Carper
by Goonie-Gal
Summary: Survivors start showing up at the Carper family's safe house, and begin to leech off their supplies. Now instead of fighting just the evolving infected, they're fighting of humans. To save them, Vera has to brave the city where the infected swarm with a stranger she only just met, named Dani. He doesn't know her secret. Doesn't know that if she looses control, she'll kill them all.
1. Brother and Sister

I sat with my back against the cold brick wall, holding the smoking rifle close to my chest. Empty shells lay all around me, my ears ringing of the metal cackling they had made just minutes ago. I was breathing hard, my chest heaving and aching. I licked my lips and glanced at the two pistols and sniper rifle to my left. In easy reach and all of the loaded. The rifle in my hand had two shots left. I could hear them… their wretched bloodthirsty growls and screams: their from of speech.

"One shot…" my brother said… he was further down the wall-walk. We had ducked behind the outer wall… our first line of defense. It was our family castle… and we had only moved here after the pandemic. We had been lucky… unlike most. We had moved fast and had the knowledge in our family to set our little use-to-be-tourist-castle, into a fortress. My entire family had survived the epidemic, all of us immune 'because Carper's blood is strong. Carper's blood is good' my uncle would say. He use to work for the military technologies… and he knew what he was doing. His son, my father, was an architect and my mother was in some agricultural profession. My cousin, has just finished his Doctorate degree in medicine, and my second Uncle was a police chief. Both uncles were Ex-Marines. My Aunt, who believed music could heal anything, was on the bomb squad. My second Aunt was a National Forest Ranger who exceeded in everything there is to know about tracking and hunting. A family of do-it-yourself and get-her-done family, with a strong passion to serve, protect and knowledge to survive. When the pandemic hit… we moved before any retaliation could be made. We wired our castle of electricity, and set traps and explosives all around the castle. Security was set on cullis gate and drawbridge. We had two emergency exits… one consisted of crossing the lake and the other consisted climbing down a very steep very nasty rock wall mountain… but both prepared a head of time to make an exit quickly and safely.

My mother had started a garden in the courtyard… full of edible food. As it was winter, the garden was out of service… but the supply of food was not. We had grown extra and canned and froze enough to last us through four winters if need be. Our Military and Marine connections got us an endless supply of guns an ammo… but we refused to waste a single bullet regardless. Which was the dilemma we me and my brother, Alex, faced now. He had one shot… I had two.

"How many left?" he asked. I peeked over the wall, in the crenellation, or the lower part of the sawtooth shaped wall, and got a quick estimate.

"Twelve." I said.

"Wait till they hit the inner circle… you take left, I'll take right." He said. I nodded. We both stood up and aimed, facing the open tundra in which the infected advanced.

The infected were nothing less then zombies. But not the kind you see in the movies. They weren't slow and they had a relentless passion for one thing: blood. They had to eat. They would do anything to get it. And now they were moving fast, some of them tripping on the barbed wire. They passed the marker of the inner circle, and both Alex and I fired one shot. The row of bombs set off… and the last twelve were gone just like that.

"Eat that blood-suckers!" my brother yelled. The explosion when down, and I searched the area in the scope of my gun… clear. I gave my brother the signal, and he put his gun down, double checked the pistol's clip before sticking it in the back loop of his jeans.

"Roast em and toast em…" he said as he quickly descended down the stairs to the ground and out the gates. I put my rifle down and switched to the sniper, and followed my brother out as he headed towards the bodies, a container of bleach in one hand. I watched the hills for another attack, watched the tundra for hiders, and watched my brother for any infected that might suddenly revive for one last second just to sink their teeth into warm flesh before they died. My brother quickly burned the bodies… or what was left of them, and came trotting back a halfway empty container in hand.

"half an hour till we reset." He called up to me, as he ran by. I nodded and set the sniper down. I reloaded the rifle without a second thought, and put it back on the rack, that held guns and ammo. We left racks similar to this all around the wall… or at least the places we defended from. I lowered the portcullis: a wooden grille of a gate behind the iron shod, that protected the gate. My father the architect had designed the present one, as the older one had long been out of order.

Half an hour, we would go reset the explosives as our Aunt had taught us. We knew a half hour was well over the needed time to wait. If their were any infected out there, they would be able to resist the chance to eat for longer than five minutes. But a half hour to be safe.

I pulled my jacket closer over my shoulders and looked back out onto the tundra. Our Castle, Carper Castle, was set at the edge of a cliff, wedged between a reservoir and an mountain. The north side where the entrance sat and gate faced, was open land, with scatter patches of dead grass and sagebrush. Beyond that, just as hills started to roll in the distance, the tree line sat, outlining the horizon like a black marker. It was a thick forest… and vegetation, herbs, wood and meat were plentiful in the spring and summer. Snow didn't often fall here… but on the rare occasions that it came… it stampeded. It would snow and snow and snow until it was two and a half feet deep… and then snow some more. It was odd weather and the men in my family had suspected that it might have something to do with the infected, as the odd weather and zombies had happened on the same occasion. My mother would just roll her eyes and laugh, telling them that sooner or later they would find a way to blame the infected. It was always easy to blame the infected and the adults often did it. My brother just recently took to the tradition and blamed the infected for the rotting forest.

"Carper's are survivors." My uncle would say at our traditional camp fire dinners, "Carper's will see this through… or we'll see the end." I remembered how my mother would scold him for saying such things… I was just a little girl at the time and death really hadn't any effect on me. But now… now it was different. Now I just missed my family.

"Vee!" my brother called up to me, "It's getting dark… let's just do it early." He said. I nodded, and opened the gate again. Instead of taking the stairs, I jumped off the wall-walk… a jump that would have broken my legs. But I was a Carper… I wasn't stupid. I gripped the bricks sticking out of the wall as I fell, and slowly descended down. Par-kor, my father had called it. It was really just acrobatics in the air… defying gravity jumping off walls and suspended gymnastics without the matt. My brother called it ninja skills, and my mother called it monkey tricks. Either way, it was a fast and easy way to move around the castle, and it kept you fit and balanced. My father had redone walls and towers, specifically for par-kor… which would give us the advantage if ever the infected got further than the front gate. The closest they had gotten to the gate in seven years was about ten yards away... and that was only because my father was training my brother and I.

I landed next to my brother and took up the wires and tool belt handed to me. He handed me a pistol, and I checked the clip. I stuck the gun, in the back of my jeans and looked at Alex. I knew that look… and he knew mine.

"What! I know. I know…" he said.

"That's the third attack today… more then we've had all month." I said, "Alex something is wrong. Something is scarring them out of the forest."

"Ya… or driving them out… it's been a cold winter. Food is scarce out there. They're just getting hungry and hunger is driving them to suicide missions like today." He said, "There's always more then one way to look at Vee." He clipped his tool belt around his waist and started off. But I was in deep thought. What he said made sense… but something was telling me otherwise… telling me to be careful. My gut instinct was teling me he was wrong. 'a Carper's greatest weapons is their instincts. Their sharper than anybodys." My grandpa would say.

"Vee…" my brother had stopped outside the gate calling to me. But I didn't hear, "Vee… Vera!" my full name caught my attention and I snapped up. "Let's go! Before it gets dark!" I caught up with him and we quickly took off towards the 'off zone' where the explosives had set off, and it was safe to walk. My brother and I had memorized the 'off zone' as it really was the only safe path when the electricity was turned on. For tonight though… it was off. Saving energy was key, my father always told me. 'save… even when you feel you have enough to last a lifetime."

Dark fell fast, and I had rewired four different explosives just as my brother finished three.

"You were always better at this then I was…" Alex said with a smile. Fact was, I was a year younger than him, but a faster learner. Alex knew as much as I did… I just did them faster.

"I'll finish up the last two… why don't you go in and get dinner ready?" Alex said.

"Why don't _I_ finish the last two…" I started.

"Naw I got it. I could use the practice." He said. I licked my lips, about to argue, but knew better. Alex always took the riskier jobs and refused to intentionally put me in danger. He was always looking out for me… as our parents did. When they no longer could… Alex assumed the role and took care of me and taught me all our family taught him that I didn't already know.

"Fine." I gave him a smile and headed back. The sun was low, and dusk brought a cold chill, making our breath visible. Quickly, I set a fire in the kitchen, an oddly modern looking room, with gas ovens, a microwave, and powered sink. I heated up some ground beef, a package from the oversized refrigerator in the cellar below the kitchen, and began to make dinner. By the time the meat was cooked, I began to get suspicious. He should be done by now… Alex should be back. Why wasn't he? Where was he? I pulled the meet off the heat and went out to the gate.

Instantly, the sense before me made me sink into the shadow of the gate, stealth mode taking over. Out in the tundra… the area where my brother was suppose to be rewiring the bombs… was a car. It's headlights were bright and were aimed right at my brother who had his hands in the air. I saw figures get out of the car… each of them with a gun. They weren't infected… their movements were sober unlike the drunken movements of the zombies. My mind went into hyper mode. Me, in Hyper mode, had only happened three times before. My uncles claimed it was the Carper family weapon. Generations before us called it a curse. But the Carper hyper mode was what made us survivors. The first two times I zoned in on my hyper mode, was eight years earlier than any Carper had. They all agreed my hyper mode was the strongest they had seen in a long time. The third time I went into hyper mode, my entire ex-military, ex-marine, cop, tough chick, bad-a family went with me… but I was the only one who pulled out that night. The only one who survived. My hyper mode was dangerous… and Alex was the last off my family setting my hyper mode top notch.

Whoever held their guns on my brother, infected or not, harmless or not, bad intentions or good intentions… they do NOT mess with a Carper without paying the consequences. I left my pistol in the back of my pants, knowing it would be to loud… to messy. I sunk into the shadows, a sharp object glinting in what light was left. They had no idea who they were messing with.


	2. 4 Theats 1 woman's fury

POV- Dani

We all stared for a moment, wondering if Tags should pull the trigger or not. They all looked at me, waiting for my signal… the OK. It was to dark to see what was moving out there, but my eyes caught hints that told me this was an unusual situation. First off, there was a dark looming, solid figure against the night sky that looked like some kind of facility. Seeing that, the first thing that went through our heads was food, shelter, water and a place to rest. But the only reason we had come this way, was because we saw smoke… something was burning. As we arrived it had gotten darker, and I saw the burnt sagebrush and blacked ground from some kind of explosion. That's when Tags saw the movement in the sagebrush. He had pulled the gun up instantly. But I saw something that made me hold my hand up as the 'wait' signal. Tags didn't ask questions… none of the boys did. They just waited… and I kenw they saw it to. The movement… was a person. Infected or not we didn't know. But I realized, with a sudden surprise… it wasn't a zombie. One, was because the person seemed to be working on something small and complicated. Zombies didn't do anything of the sort unless it had to do with food, in which case they would be frantically tearing at the box or container. But watching the boy, the movements were slow, precise and calm. And second of all, the figure had a conscious. I knew this because the figure straightened and looked toward the forests edge more then once. We were safely hidden in the tree line, it being to dark for the figure to see us.

"It's a kid…" Tags said, still looking through the scope, "Dani…" I hushed him.

"Another survivor? Out here?" the driver, Flint said. We were all surprised to see the human out there… we hadn't seen another survivor for months. The further west we headed, the less survivors and the more zombies we saw.

"Dani what do we do?" Dub asked from the back of the jeep.

"Well…" I thought, "If he's out here... he's got food. Water. Heat."

"What if he's like the last guy…" Tags said. I licked my lips. The last guy made an even and memory they didn't want to repeat. He had seemed nice, and had so much supplies they didn't think a few pounds was much at all to share. But the guy had other plans… and they lost everything they had and left Flint with a missing finger. Just a crate of food… that's all they asked for. But the idiot had no intentions of sharing, and tricked us. He had us locked in a butcher's fridge for three days… almost starving them to death before I picked the lock and we grabbed the food and ran. Flint had jumpstarted the car and they were off. Off to find a place to settle down and rest for a few weeks, before heading out again. Their mission was a simple one: kill as many zombies as possible on their way to Morter Refuge. A place they heard was a safe heaven. But after months of traveling… they just wanted to stop and rest a while. And here seemed like a good place. The question was: was it really?

I pulled rifle from the back, and cocked it. The boys did the same.

"Let's check it out. No mistakes." I said. Flint floored it, the jeep peeling out into the tundra. The sagebrush was nothing more that a few sticks against the speed and mass of our rig as we sped over to the figure. Whoever it was, heard us coming instantly and moved faster that I expected anyone to move, almost beeting the jeep itself. But Flint had grown up behind the wheel and cut the boy off, framing him in the headlights. Tags and Dub jumped out, their guns on him instantly.

"Hands!" I yelled, seeing the boy reached behind him… probably for a gun. I expected the boy to pull the gun anyway… but he didn't. he slowly raised his hands, clear so we could see them.

'Who are you?" he asked, oddly calm for one on the wrong end of a gun. And he didn't seemed surprise to see survivors either. Had he seen more?

"We're asking you the same question." Tags said.

"My name is Alex." He said.

"Wonderful. Alex. Do you live out here?" I asked.

"Yes."

"And you're not infected?" Dub asked.

"I'm speaking to you aren't I?" he said.

"Look… we need a place to rest and eat." I said, "We don't want to hurt anyone."

"The guns say otherwise." Alex said.

"We ain't lowering em." Flint said firmly. Alex nodded.

"I understand…" he said, "safety first. I respect that. I can honestly say it's nice to see a face without skin falling off it."

"Same." I said respectfully back. He seemed ok.. but you can't be to careful.

"I can offer you food and place to stay. How long you planning on hanging about?" Alex asked.

"That's our business." I said.

"Fair enough." He said. Alex was amazed at how calmly he acted in a situation like this, "But I can only guess how hungry you guys are… we're only human. Whoever's left in the world.. people… the REAL people, should stick together. The day we turn on each other is the day the world really ends." I gave a small knowing laugh, and smiled. I liked this kid.

"My names Dani." I said, "And we won't refuse the offer of food… if it's still open."

"Of course. My sister…"

"There more of you?" Tags boomed his grip tightening on his gun.

"Yes…" Alex answered easily, "Actually she should be…" suddenly his face went pale, and he swore under his breath. Instantly everyone went tense.

"What?" Flint demanded.

"Lower your guns… quick." Alex said.

"Hell no." Dub snapped back. Alex's eyes began to panic.

"If you want to live… lower your guns. Please I'm not playing… you guys don't understand. My sister…"

"Shut up…" Tags snapped.

"Vee!" Alex suddenly called out, "Easy! Vee are you out there? Can you hear me?" Was he insane? That would explain the calm stature in front of a gun…

"Dub get his gun…" I ordered. But no one moved, "Dub!" I turned to look at Dub… or where he was suppose to be. But he was gone.

"What the…" Flint started. Suddenly Alex moved.

"Vee!" he rushed towards me, faster then Flint or Tags could react. He ran fast right at me, hands pumping at his side. I gripped the trigger ready to pull it "Vera no!" he yelled, suddenly spinning around me. _Ummpphhf!_ Alex slammed into a body only inches behind me, a knife in hand. Something that scared me out of my wits. How did ANYONE get so close without making a sound? I quickly realized Alex saved my life.

Instantly Alex and the figures were up. They were out of the cars headlights, and it was to dark to see anything but silhouettes and the glint of a knife. My mind flashed to our missing Dub.

"Vera! Easy! Clam down! They're ok! Vera!" Alex wrestled as the figure with the knife still tried to advance towards me, "VERA!" Finally, they stopped struggling.

"They almost killed you!" the figure snapped. My grip wavered on my gun… a girl's voice?

"They were just being careful!" Alex said back.

"But you didn't do anything!" she hissed back.

"Vera calm down… please." Alex said. He turned back to me, "I'm sorry about that. You just scared us."

"Where's Dub? Where's our friend?" I demanded. Alex looked back at the girl.

"What'd you do with him Vera?" he asked. The girl sighed.

"I tossed him under the jeep." She muttered. I waved my hand and Tags ran back for the jeep.

"He's here!" Tags said. In the dark I could barely make out him pulling a body out.

"He alright?" Alex asked, "Vera?"

"He'll be fine. I just knocked him out." She said. I blinked. _Just knocked him out_? You can't just _knock someone out_!

"Vera put the knife away…" Alex said. But she made no move to do so.

"He tried to shoot you." She said, her voice dark.

"Vera easy. It was an accident. They just want something to eat and a place to rest." Alex said, sounding a bit panicked.

"Ya? Really? How long? They could be here all year eating our food and not paying any contribution. Alex you can't trust them." The girl hissed back.

"Vera… they're not fakes. They're people. We can't turn down their request."Alex argued back.

"yes we can. We've done it before we can do it again." Alex turned back to me, and eyed the gun in my hand.

"It might help if you pretend to be friendly." He said. But we didn't move… didn't shift our aim to the ground. We held them at gunpoint. The girl jerked towards Flint… the closest gunmen to her, but Alex caught her. Was she so insane that she would charge someone with a gun pointed right at her? Alex grabbed her shoulders and made her look straight at him.

"Look at me' he said, "Vera look at me. Calm down… I know you're in hyper mode. You need to calm down and breathe."

"They could've killed you." She said again.

"I know… and they still can." I saw the girl tense "But we will forever hold what Grandfather told us… understood?" the girl did respond. Was she calming down? Relaxed? I couldn't tell

"Alex they…"

"I know. But killing them doesn't make you any better then them. If you don't trust them… trust ME. Calm down, get off this mode." Again we heard silence in the dark. But suddenly I saw the glint of her knife as she put it away. Then I saw the figure turn to me directly.

"One move… one wrong look, and they're dead." She said. She folded her arm, and Alex looked back at me, flashing his eyes at the guns.

"Our weapons are down.' He said. I looked him in the eye in what light I could see.

"Are they insane or something?" Tags whispered at me. I didn't know. But I could smell food… and my stomach told me I had to take a chance or we'd all die. I lowered my weapon, and the others followed my lead. Alex relaxed, and the girl shifted.

"Sorry about that shot I got off." I said. Alex shrugged,

"it's only smart to be careful… I'm not blaming anyone." He said. I smiled, beginning to like this Alex kid, he seemed smart. He knew what he was doing. A leader, and yet no threat to me. "Come on, dinner should be ready."

"I only made enough for two." The girl answered hotly.

"We'll make more." Alex said back. The girl huffed.

"I'm NOT cooking for these imposters." She said firmly, "And nor will I give them any attention. They want a place to stay… YOU set them up. I refuse to be any part of helping them survive." And with that she stomped off. We all watched her go.

"That's a bit rash." Flint muttered.

"You'll have to excuse her. She doesn't like strangers. Come on, you're friend better be somewhere warm when he wakes up or he'll be mad." Good point, I thought.

"Take him up." I said. Flint and Tags piled back into the car, while I followed Alex towards the facility up ahead. As I got closer, I saw it was not a facility… but a castle. "Holy…" I started.

"Family heirloom. Been in my family for generations and it just happened to be in great condition when the epidemic hit." Alex said with a smile.

"No wonder you guys are surviving out here."

"What do you mean?"

"I've traveled over six thousand miles… and the further west I go, the thicker the infected get, and less people we see. We figured no one would be crazy enough to live out here… and survive at least."

"considering we live in a peninsula… not much of the infected come down here. But when they do…" Alex let it hang, With the torches on the wall, I could clearly see our host. He was a big build, and looked to me he could handle himself. He wore rough and worn jeans, much like the rest of us, and blue shirt with a heavy jacket. He had a head of shaggy blonde hair, and a pair of bright green eyes.

"What were you doing out there anyway?" I asked remembering the explosive marks on the ground.

"We had an attack earlier today. I was… cleaning up." He said.

"An attack? What like more then one?" I asked. Alex laughed.

"More then one? Always. Out here they've learned to band together. Ten or twele maximum. Mostly in bunches of four, unless theirs food involved… then theirs hundreds. We burn what we kill so we don't attract attention." He said.

"But they can smell it…" I said.

"Bleach takes care of that." Alex said. I blinked. Bleach… genius! Why hadn't anyone thought of that?

"I'm impressed." I said, "I honestly am."

"Well we do what we must." Alex said.

"Where can we park the car?" I asked, as my buddies pulled in through the gate.

"Right over there… along the wall. The stables aren't open at the moment… temporarily out of use. If it wasn't you'd be able to park there." I waved Flint over and motioned where to park. He nodded and pulled up.

"This is freaking wicked!" Tags said jumping out of the jeep, "Dude you realize this is a CASTLE right? A FORTRESS. I seriously think I'll get a good night sleep tonight."

"This is some crazy medieval thing you got going Alex." Tags said.

"Well it'll be nice to actually sleep tonight without worrying about waking to my flesh being gnawed on." I said.

"No worries. We lock up pretty well at night." Alex said. I looked at him. He seemed to be one of the few honest people left, and what he said out in the field made sense.

"Look, I don't want to intrude. And I don't want to be a burden. If this fortress is as safe as I think it is…" I unlocked my gun, and put it away. "Then I guess it should stay that way both outside and IN."

"Dani…" Tags gave me a look.

"What he said made sense. If we can't trust our own kind… we won't survive. We won't get anywhere." Alex smiled.

"I wish my sister saw that." He said, 'Don't push her buttons though. She will kill you." I didn't know if he was serious or not.


	3. Dani meet Vera

POV: Vera

I had stormed off into my mother's tower. Walking in instantly cleared my head. It smelt of wild flowers and fresh summer air… like she always smelt of. I don't know how the smell survived winters but it did… and it was the only place I could think. I had come close to killing one of them… their leader. Cut off the head of the snake and the body dies. I was going for the head. I separated him out easily, the way the others kept flashing him looks. My knife was in my hand, and I only had to take out one boy to get there… I raised my knife, but Alex raised his voice, telling me to calm down, if I could hear him. So I just knocked the boy out instead. He never saw it coming. Then I was ready to go for the kill…but again Alex stopped me. Alex, was the only person alive that could bring me down off of Hyper mode… he and my mother were the only ones with the ability to soothe my nerves and clam me down. Alex had calmed me down enough to allow me to leave without killing anyone… but my blood was still pumping.

They had no idea. They had no idea the nerves they were playing with, what their presence here meant to me. Alex knew, and still took a chance. Alex was a good judge of character, and it had never failed him before. They were kids… our age. Rare but seemingly reasonable that they were. The younger ones died because of their inability to grasp reality... their immaturity. The older ones got slow and believed that their old life was still in reach. Their life of peace and happened all around. But kids our age… my generation grew up with the epidemic as their reality. They accepted it whether they realized it or not. Accepting ones fate, gave you the advantage over it. You could get through it. But I wouldn't get over this… these intruders. There was no way.

The memories flooded back, and I bit my hand to keep from crying. I slid down the door, feeling my knees might give out. Breath I told myself… just breath. I did. But I was still on edge. I still wanted to march out there and kick them out. But I had to trust my brother. He knew what he was doing "family is everything' my uncle would say 'Family is all you'll have left in the end. Family is all that matters." I believed that with all my heart. Which was why I was in the mess I was in now. Most of what mattered to me, was gone… and I was left with the memories of their crude passing.

I found myself sitting at my mother's piano. Her mother believed music could heal anything, and taught me her method every second she could. Pushed back the board to reveal the dusty keys, and sat on the bench my hands in my lap. I just starred at the black and white keys.

"Vee?" it was my brother. I had heard him come up the stone steps to the tower. He knew I would be here. He peeked his head in the room and saw me sitting on the bed. He started over.

"I know this is hard for you…" he started, but stopped when he saw the piano open, 'Mom's piano."

"ya…" I breathed. My fingers slid over the keys.

"You planning on picking it up again?" he asked. I shook my head, the same answer I always gave him when he asked if I was going to play. My brother expected nothing different, "Look, the visitors handed over their guns… I didn't even ask. They're honest people… we just scared them."

"They handed over their weapons?" I looked up. Alex nodded, "Then they're stupid. You never give up your weapon."

"Give em a chance Vee, gosh it's not like they'll stay here forever. Just little while. They look tired and I believe them when they say they could use a good night's rest and a full stomach."

"Look, I'm trusting YOU. Not them. Don't ask me to do more than that because I won't. You of all people know why.

"Not everyone turns out to be like…"

"Alex enough." I stood up, "I'll deal with the situation for now. But don't expect me to get along as if nothings wrong." Alex sighed.

"Alright… just for a while. I promise." He said. He gave me a kiss on the head and went for the door, "At least get something to eat?" As soon as he said 'eat' my stomach grumbled. Alex laughed, "See you downstairs." I sighed. I really didn't want anything to do with the intruders. I would avoid them obviously. So I waited a half hour before heading downstairs, hoping they had left the kitchen to sleep I their rooms.

But NO. The idiots were there, sitting at the big oak table, playing cards. A game I was all to familiar with: Blame Benji. A game my family always played. Alex must of taught it to them. Which just angered me more. Why was Alex being so friendly to them?

As soon as I walked in, they all looked up. The one they called Dub, the one I knocked out, was no where to be seen. It was just three of them and Alex, who destroyed my excuse to leave by waving at the bowl of steaming soup sitting at the table. I licked my lips, picked up the bowl and went to the other end of the table to eat. They all hesitated, before going back to the game.

The one who had almost run my brother over in the car, was labeled Flint. Funny name for a boy, but hey boys are odd anyway. Flint was a tall lengthy kid, who looked more clumsy on his feet than he did behind a wheel of a car. He had a mess of blonde hair cut short and poorly kept. He had a long thin nose and a black bandana tied around his head. They had all taken off their jackets, enjoying the heat of the fire I had started earlier.

The second… the leader, they called Dani. He had an athletic build, about the same as my brother. He had bright blue eyes and a head of wavy amber hair. A few freckles spotted his face, and a gold earring pierced his right ear. He two had a black bandana, but had tied it around his bicep. He was sitting somewhat slouched in his chair, which gave him away all to easy. He felt akward without his gun and it showed. He shifted uncomfortable, and his hand often brushed against where he would normally have his gun.

The third was called Tags. He was a short but lively character. He cracked jokes left and right apparently feeling right at home. He was much shorter than the rest, but he was thicker around the arms, like my brother. He had a head of brown hair that came over his eyes in such a way I wondering how he saw anything at all. I only saw his dark brown eyes for a second a few times: flickering over at me.

Dub, I saw was laying on a pile of blankets closer to the fire, out cold. He looked to be the youngest in the group but not by much. He had a baby face, round and soft, with strawberry blonde hair.

"So how long you guys planning to stay?" Alex asked, throwing a card down. I tuned in instantly.

"Well, I don't want to impose." The one called Dani said, "How ever long you'll let us…" I tensed… and Alex saw it.

"We'll have to talk it over…" Alex said.

"Hey, would you like to play?" Dani asked me. I deliberately didn't answer, trying to finish my food, "Is she deaf?" he asked, sincerely wondering.

"No…" Alex said in a tone I took to be a warning to ME. ME of all people to be warning he was talking to ME. I looked up and gave Alex a glare, before getting up to leave.

"She's a handful isn't she?" I heard one of them say as I left.

I went to my room, and locked the door. I went around my room and double checked the guns I had hidden in various place, and put the pistol under my pillow, before going to bed. I had nightmares of that night. The night my life was shattered. The night where my hyper mode set off to the extreme. I never woke up… it just played over and over in my head.

Finally when I did wake up, I found myself in a tangle of blankets, and sweating. I could still smell the sharp sent of blood from my dream. I swallowed and looked out the window… the sun was up.. it was well into the day. Quickly I cleaned up and got dressed.

Breakfast was quiet, as the kitchen was empty. Seeing empty bowls in the skin, I figured they were already up and had already eaten. I didn't like not knowing where my enemies were, and went looking for them.

I found them in the courtyard, talking about their jeep. Alex was with them, as well as Dub.

As soon as Alex saw me, he excused himself from the group and came over to me.

"You had nightmares last night…" Alex said. Stated it more then a question. I gave him a puzzled look.

"You woke up the guys. They went running to your room thinking something was wrong. You're door was locked. When they couldn't get in they came and found me." He said. I bit my lip frustrated and embaressed.

"And what did you tell them?" I asked.

"I told them to go back to bed and I would take care of it. You locked your door Vee." Alex said. I nodded.

"A precaution." I said. Alex sighed, and shook his head.

"Alex!" Tags called, "You ever play Brute Squad before?" he asked. TO my dismay, they all headed over.

"Brute Squad? Can't say that I have." Alex said. I bit my tongue. How could the just be so friendly? Just like that?

"Aw we'll have to teach it to you. And you're sister if she wants." Tags said.

"Ya sure she'd love…" Alex stared.

"I'm going to go collect wood. We burnt plenty of it yesterday and we'll need more." I said darkly.

"Vee why don't you wait until I can go with you…" Alex started.

"I'll go with you." Dani said, to me. I was about to snap a rude comment at him, but Alex jumped in.

"Perfect!" Alex said.

"I don't NEED anyone to come with me." I said.

"It's not safe for anyone to be out there alone. Especially…" Dani started but Alex cut him off.

"OK!" he said, "Well glad that's settled. Off you go then. You guys can use the bikes behind the stables."

"Alex…" I started.

"Vee… for me. Just try." Alex said. He gave me a look that came with a guilt trip. I scowled and spun on my heel. I heard Dani run to catch up.

"Sorry if we scared you last night." He started, "We were just being careful. You really can't be to careful in times like these…" you got that right, I thought. He was silent… waiting for the other end of the conversation.

"I'm Dani." He said.i Swallowed hard.

"Vera." I said.

"We were worried about you last night… freaked us out."

"Look," I spun on him, "you're not here to make friends. If you are you're looking in the wrong place. Don't play all 'let's be friends' or 'we were worried about you' with me. I won't buy it."

"We were just trying to be nice. You would think that would be welcomed in a time like this." Dani said. I scoffed and kept walking.

"I'm only going along with this for my brother. Otherwise you and you're friends wouldn't be here." I snapped.

"No need to freak out…"

"It's amazing your still alive." I muttered.

"So how are we going to carry wood back on bikes anyway?" Dani asked as we turned the corner… "Oh." They were motor bikes. Two large bags were strapped to the back of each, answering the boys question.

We got to the woods, and parked the bikes by the creek. Dani had his rifle and I had my pistol. I pulled the canteens out of the bag, and kneeled down by the creek. Dani stood on the bank, rifle in hand watching the trees. I rolled my eyes. I didn't need protecting.

"Thirsty?" I asked. He nodded, and I threw him an empty canteen, 'Fill her up." I said. Dani gave me a look.

"You watching then?" he asked. I scoffed and pointed at the ground by the trees.

"See that? Twigs, leaves…it's Fall." I said, "You'll hear them come before they even see you."

"Doesn't hurt to be careful." He said, and started to fill his canteen. He was completely right. I wondered what it was he did. Anyone who survived these days, wasn't just the average Joe. They had to be someone, know something to survive. And know it BEFORE the epidemic took over.

"So.. DANI. What is it that you do exactly?" I asked, taking a sip from my canteen.

"What before the epidemic?" he asked I nodded. He laughed, a bit embarrassed and answered, "I was a professional paintball player." He said. I looked at him.

'Serioulsy?" I asked. He laughed.

"Seriously." He answered. I shrugged. I guessed that would give you the ability to survive. Accuracy in aim, stealth, teamwork, and what not, "What about you?" I looked at him, but he didn't not make eye contact. He was watching his conteen fill. I ran my tongue over my teeth.

"Piano player." I said. Dani laughed.

"I bet that's useful in a fight." He said. I shrugged.

"Keeps your hands nice and strong to strangle with." I said. He looked up startled, "It was a joke." I said. He smiled.

"Sure." He said, and straightened. I picked up a stick, "We just start then?" I nodded. I started walking north, picking up stray sticks as we went. I was fine with the silence… but obvioulys Dani was not.

"So… you come out here a lot?" he asked. It occurred to me that living with a bunch of boys, talking to a girl was awkward for him. Despite my grudge against him, I kinda felt bad.

"what were you and you're friends doing out here anyway?" I asked, "It's not smart to travel all the time."

"We're searching for a refuge we heard about." Dani said, "Our last camp… was ah…" he he cleared his throat, "Over-run."

"By the infected?"

"I wish. But no." Dani said. I heard the pain in his voice. It must have been some take over.

"People?" I asked.

"You could say that." Dani said, "Anyway we got kicked out because they disagreed."

"About what?" I asked.

"About taking in survivors." Dani said. I stacked another stick in my arm, hesitating.

"And you were on which side?" I asked.

"We were set with enough supplies. More than enough. We believed that it wasn't right to hide behind our walls while there were those who needed help."

"And got kicked out because of that?" I asked.

"You seem surprised. You seem to have the same beliefs." He said. I stopped, and shoved the sticks under my arm. I turned around and faced Dani.

"If only it were that simple." I hissed, "Don't think you know anything about me just because the events in your past seem to be similar to what happening now. It's nothing like it. Don't you DARE think otherwise."

"Well you can't just…" he suddenly stopped, his eyes averting from me to somewhere behind me.

"The infected… I know. Six of them." I said.

"I thought you said we would hear them!" Dani hissed, dropping his sticks and pulling his rifle around.

"When I said that I had assumed you weren't DEAF." I snapped, and turned around. I saw the movement up ahead further in the trees. They hadn't seen us yet, but there was a wind that told me they would smell us before they saw us.

"Come on…" I said, "We'd better get back to camp.' I said quietly, "pick up your sticks."

"And be left with no hands available?" Dani scoffed.

"And have a defense against the infected without wasting bullets… and have wood for the fire." I hissed. I started back at a jog. As we got closer to the bikes a gurgling scream made us both stop. There, between us and our bikes were four more infected. The scream, I knew would attract the six in the forest and anything else within hearing distance. I heard Dani swear, and he dropped all of his sticks again, pulling his rifle around. I dropped all my sticks but two of the thickest ones, each about as thick as a sign post, and two feet long.

"Run!" I yelled.


	4. Bitten

POV: Dani

I didn't question her. I ran. I turned on my heel and started making tracks fast. The girl was quick on her feet, and moved easily over the rough terrain, surprisingly keeping up with me. Years of paintball tournaments kept me in shape and gave me knowledge keeping your ankles intact. Two many times my team-mates had broken their ankles and lost a game. But this wasn't a game I wanted to loose.

"This way!" the girl yelled at me, taking a turn for the forests edge. I followed her, getting a quick glance behind me. A whole pack of infected weaving around the trees swarming towards us. I had never seen so many all at once before and it scared me. I jumped over a fallen tree, and dodged sharp branches of the trees. Up ahead, where the tree line broke into tundra, I saw the familiar sight of a medieval stone wall. Were we that close to the castle? No… it was a small encampment. I saw the gate, and walls going both ways and as I passed through them, I saw it was nothing more than a large circular wall, forming a room with no roof. The walls themselves were no taller than eight feet high.

"The gates!" I yelled. I slid to a stop and spun around. Vera was at the gate holding the rope that kept the gate open. But she didn't let go, "Shut it!" I yelled. But she didn't. She was watching the infected race toward us. She was insane! Three infected passed through the gate, and suddenly she let loose. Two more tried to pass through, but only one made it as the gate came crashing down on the second.

"Are you insane!" I yelled. Now the infected stood between me and Vera putting us both in each other's line of fire. Neither of us could shoot unless we risked hitting each other. But a quick glance at Vera and I saw she had no intention of shooting them. She held a thick stick in each hand, and spun them around her eyes alight. All the infected, turned to her… as if the knew her… as if facing an old rival they had been waiting a long time to take out. Not even one of them was facing me. I starred completely horrified.

Their stench reached my nose and I wanted to gag. The smell of rotting flesh, dirt, grease and stale blood hung in the air like a heavy, molded blanket. I tried saying still, find relief of the distracted infected. Then three of them screamed and they all started for her. My blood froze.

Vera threw down one stick, and pulled out a knife from thin air. She waited until the infected were yards away before sprinting across the encamping, blood stained teeth close behind. She didn't slow as she got to the wall, but instead jumped, running vertically up the wall, and then springing herself into the air, up and over the infected heads. She landed behind them, slashing her knife diagonal upwards. The scream of that particular zombie was cut short as her blade got him from the chest, across his neck, and up to his chin. She then spun around, and swung the stick in her hand, colliding it with a second on the head. The third swiped at her, and she pulled back, and kicked high, her foot connecting with the zombie's chin. The zombie stumbled back, but the forth was on her arms stretched out, and clawed at her. She ducked and came back up, sinking her knife hilt deep into zombie flesh. She let go of the knife, took the stick in both hands, and batted at the head of the third zombie who had recovered his balance. It was down for the count, and Vera turned back and yanked her knife back out before the zombie could fall. The forth had stumbled on it's comrade's fallen body, and seemed to be deciding wether to eat his friend or go for the fresher meat. But he didn't have much time to decide. Vera finished him off, taking a bullet to the chest. The shot rang out and echoed off the walls, as four infected lay dead. One shot, four dead. She was good.

"She can handle herself." Alex had told me when we were playing cards, "Don't get on her bad side. You won't come off it."

"What's she got against us anyway?" Tags had asked, "I mean ya we held you at gunpoint but we didn't try and KILL you like she claimed."

"She's difficult to understand." Alex said, "My sister has been through things no one, not even those who survive today, has ever been through. No one should ever have to go through what my sister suffered that night."

"What happened?" I asked. Alex shook his head.

"Not my place to say." He answered. I figured whatever it was, she had nightmares about it that night. We had all woken up to her scream, and thought there was someone in her room, trying to kill her. We found Alex after find her her door locked, and Alex said it was all ok. I doubted it.

I could see something in her eyes now… something alive inside her. She fought with a focused rage, an anger that powered her into a killing being. Disturbed or not, my stomach tightened seeing what looked like the average athlete turn into an expert killer.

Vera turned to me.

"Don't worry about the ones outside or anything." She muttered with sarcasm. I could hear the raged blabber of the infected outside the wall.

"Sorry." I muttered, "Look out!" the infected had someone scaled the wall, and one had taken it's height advantage to the extreme, and jumped off the wall at Vera. It knocked Vera to the ground, landing on top of her, and knocked the knife from her hand. I raised my rifle, and shot the second head coming over the wall. Cocked, and shot again, the third head coming over the wall. Two more coming over the wall, both fell, their lives ending with the lead from my gun. Vera was struggling under the infected, trying to hold him back, her face turned away in disgust. The infected clawed at her, and growled, it's mouth watering.

I ran over and swung the butt of my gun into it's stomach, knocking him off Vera. I then flung the other end of my gun around, and finished him off. Two more shots went off behind me and I found Vera had taken out the last one coming over the wall. The Zombie fell, breaking bones as he landed. I aimed my rifle, and made sure all zombies were dead, before lowering it. I looked at Vera, and swore.

Her arms were covered in blood, a wound on her side bleeding through her shirt and jacket. She slowly sat up gripping her gun and her side. I ran over.

"How many shots you got left?" she asked, her voice a bit strained.

"Enough. How bad is it?" I asked. She licked her lips.

"I've had worse." She muttered, "And I'll live. We best get back though." She attempted to stand, moving in stiff movements."Ah!" she lost her balance as she put weight on her left ankle. I saw her blush as my hand moved to steady her. I felt my own cheeks get hot.

"Easy…" I said, "Come on." I threw the gun's strap over my shoulder, and wrapped my arm around her waist, and flung her arm around my neck. She was stiff, though from pain or from me I didn't know. I felt the hot wetness of her blood soaking through my own shirt, and dripping down my neck from her arm. We had better get her back fast.

"Can you move?" I asked.

"Easy." She breathed, "Let's just hurry." I nodded.

We got to the bikes without any problems. I heard the screams of infected from further in the forest, but I get any visual on them. Vera refused to leave without picking up our dropped piles and packing them… which left me strapping them down tightly to both bikes.

"Can you ride?" I asked.

"Better than I can run I guess." She said.

"We'll go slower then full." I told her, "keep your eyes ahead of you… breath. Don't faint on me alright?" I think she attempted to glare at me, but all I got was a look. We started our bikes and headed off, just as I saw movement from the deeper shadows of the woods. We headed across the tundra, moving at a slower pace than before, but faster than any infected would be able to run. I rode as close as I could to Vera without putting either of us in danger, and watched her closely. She was struggling with gripping the handles, and I could tell her entire body ache. Of course it ached, I thought, she was slammed to the ground by an infected body jumped at her from five feet up! Fact is, she was doing pretty well.

Up ahead my eyes caught a dirt path being stirred up into the air, forming three trails. It was Alex, Tags, and Flint, coming to our aid, from hearing the shots. I saw them, and both me and Vera slowed to a stop. I planted my feet, balancing my bike. But Vera's bike tilted on her bad leg, and I saw her start to fall. I jumped off my bike letting it fall, and caught both her and her bike before they could fall. I could feel Vera shaking under her jacket. I didn't know if it was from adrenaline or the cold, but either way shaking woud pump more blood.

"Lovley… well it's not broken there's the good news." She muttered.

"But probably drastically strained or sprained."

"Way to be positive nitwit." She said. I said with a smile,

"Your bothers up ahead." I held her bike stead for her until the three arrived.

"What happened?" Tags asked, pulling to a stop, "We heard shots."

"What the…" Alex saw his sister and I covered in blood, and cursed.

"She's a little shaken." I said, "One of them jumped on her from above." Alex kicked the stand on his bike and ran over. He lifted his sister's chin.

"Hey Vera…" Vera said nothing as her brother looked her over. He swore a few times, pulling back her sleeve and jacket.

"She's been bitten…" Alex said. From the side of my eye I saw Tags and Flint shift uneasily gripping their guns. For a long time it was silent.

"She's infected…" Tags said.

"No…" Alex cut him off, "I have to get her back…"

"Alex…" I started. It was obvious Vera and Alex were close… more than just family. They were all they had left. But having hope for one who's been bitten was nothing more then foolish.

"Can you guys ride back and pick up the extra bike? I'm going to ride with Vera back to camp." Alex said.

"Alex she's going to…" Flint tried to say.

"Please?" Alex looked frantic. I saw the look in his eye, and it was all Flint could do but nod. Alex got on Vera's bike behind her.

"Hang on Vee, we'll get you home." Alex said and started the bike and took off. We watched them go.

"What happened?" Tags asked, "You guys forget to take safety off the guns or something?" I looked at him. I didn't blame him for the question… no matter how stupid it was. We weren't use to packs of infected… maybe two or three in the area but never up to ten.

"We got attacked." I said, "There were six ahead of us and more came round." Tags and Flint exchanged glances.

"More? What like a pack?" Tags asked suddenly looking around, and blowing his hair out of his eyes. For a brief moment you could see the color of his eyes.

"More like a horde of drunken psycho's." I answered, "They got some kind of smaller encampment out there that we took refuge in."

"What about you… you ok?" Flint asked. I nodded. My mind flashed to the scene for the thousandths time since it happened. The infected charging in, close enough for me to see rotting skin hanging from bone and muscle in all to well of detail. Their yellow stained eyes searching for their meal… and finding there was enough to go around. But then they all turned to Vera. I had been around plenty of infected. Seen their behavior repeat itself to many times to be called random. They saw food and not food. That was it. Anything else didn't matter. So why did they focus on Vera? If anything, from a zombie's point of view, I had been the meal. I was bigger than the slim figure they had targeted. Why? It just was normal for any infected to act like that… wasn't natural. But I had decided to keep my thoughts to myself for the time being, until the appropriate moment.

"We took them out and one of them got to Vera." I said, "I didn't know she had been bitten."

"So what do we do?" Flint asked. I didn't know. I knew the situation Alex was in all to well. To many people had dealt with the same situation, all with the same outcome, to expect Alex was going to do the right thing. She was going to turn and they'd all be put in danger, because she was INSIDE the castle. Sides, and infected with the kind of skill she had, was dangerous.

"Well first we get back to Dub. We have a little less then 24 hours until she turns." I said, and got on my bike, "Flint pick up the extra bike like. Tags I need you to find Dub and tell him what's happened. I'm going to go talk to Alex."

Everyone went their separate ways. I had been working with these guys for years now, and I thought I couldn't have been luckier to have guys like these as best friends. I knew they would get the job done quickly.

I found Alex in Vera bedroom, putting her to bed. He had carried her in as she couldn't walk on her ankle. Her skin was already beginning to pale and sweat.

"You'll be alright." Alex said, and then saw me.

"I'm thristy." She breathed. I swallowed. That was the first sign. Always being thirsty.

"I'll get you some water." Alex said. From the look in his eyes, he knew. He knew all to well. He shut the door to Vera's room and crossed his arms looking at me.

"How's she doing?" I asked. Alex's easy-going somewhat goofy personality had given way to a strong stance and a hard glare.

"She's fine." He said. I hesitated, watching Alex watch me closely. I didn't know what he was thinking, but it was clear they were negative thoughts about me.

"You weren't kidding when you said she could take care of herself. She took out three by hand." I said. Alex gave a stiff nod.

"She usually will. She has a certain rage that drives her." He said darkly. He still had not moved his glared from me.

"Alex, you know…" I started.

"Look, you and you're friends are welcome to the food. You can load up and leave if you'd like."

"Is that your advice or a suggestion?" I asked. Alex tensed, and suddenly I realized that could very well be as dangerous as Vera… if not more so. Alex and his sister had survived out here for this long, telling me they weren't armatures.

"Do whatever you'd like. I'm not telling you to do anything." Alex said and started to walk away. I licked my lips. So many people went into denial when someone close had been bitten. Alex would refuse to do what was necessary and he was putting himself in danger because of that. He seemed like a good guy… he didn't deserve to become infected by his sister, because of his sister.

"Alex…" I said stopping him, "She's going to turn." Alex continued to walk away, ignoring my comment, not because he didn't hear me. He heard me. Heard me loud and clear.


	5. Witness

POV; Vera

Riding back to the camp with Alex was one of the most painful things I've encountered. With every bump pain splintered up my side and arms. My ankle was burning and pulsed pain every time I bumped it on the bike.

"Hang on…" Alex said in my ear. I knew this was hard for him, and I couldn't bare to say anything. I knew what was happening. I knew what Alex was going to do… what he had to.

"What are you going to tell them?" I asked, my voice crackled from a dry throat.

"I have a plan…" he said.

We got back to the castle, and Alex carried me up to my room. My blood got all over his shirt, and I wanted to apologize, but my head started to swim. Loss of blood did things to your head. I told Alex this and he nodded. I found myself in my room, Alex tucking me in.

"I'll come back and we'll fix you up ok? I'll be right back." Alex said, putting another pillow behind my head. We both caught the sound of footsteps approaching, and saw Dani in the doorway. We both exchanged glances, knowing what he was here for.

"You'll be alright." He said.

"I'm thirsty."

"I'll get you some water." He said, and then followed Dani outside my door. I couldn't hear what they were saying. But I knew the subject. This was going to be hard for Alex. I had no idea what he was going to do, but I knew he had a plan. He always had a plan. I knew what must happen. It had happened before but with my Uncle. Alex knew what to do. The only thing about this time around… was that there were witnesses.


	6. Murdered

POV: Dani

I met the boys in the courtyard. Dub had fully recovered and by the look on his face, and the gun in his hand, he had already been updated.

"So?" Flint asked as I approached them.

"He's not going to do it. He advised we leave." I said.

"We know he won't do it. It's her freaking sister for heaven's sake." Tags said. I liked my lips.

"She's at the second stage already." I said, "The weakest stage of turning."

"And what do you want to do?" Tags asked. I sighed, thinking. I had no idea what I wanted to do.

"I like Alex." Dub said. The others agreed. I did as well.

"He's the first person who actually seemed HUMAN to us." Dub said, "He gave us food and shelter. The friendship alone was more then anyone's given us in a long time."

"We should return the favor." Flint said. We all looked at Tags, who blew his hair out of his way again. Again his eyes flashed. For a brief moment, I could see he didn't want to do it. But then he straightened, suddenly deciding, and pulled out his gun, checking the rounds.

"How long?" I asked. Tags shrugged.

"Ten minutes." He said, and put the gun in the back of his jeans. I nodded.

"Make it fast." I said.

"To the head. Painless." Flint added. Tags nodded, and turned and left, each stride determined to go through with it. It had to be done. Alex wouldn't. We had to save his life. He didn't deserve to go out like that.

"What now?" Flint asked.

"Alex said we can load up with food before we leave. I suggest we take him up on that. But only what we need. Nothing extra." I said. The others nodded.

"I'll pull the car around." Flint said.

Dub and I found the cellar to which Alex had shown us earlier. A door that lead down into the earth just behind the kitchen. There were boxes and cans and containers of everything.

"They sure were well stocked." Dub said. I huffed. We heard Flint pull up outside and began to load. The whole time I couldn't stop thinking of what I had sent Tags to go do.

I was going down for the last box of supplies, entering the damp cold cellar one last time. We had barely even dented the amount of food they had, and I was glad. I didn't want to take advantage of four fortunate find, but on the other hand I wasn't stupid to leave without any kind of food. I picked up one of the smaller boxes, as our jeep could only hold so much. I fit the box into the jeep as Dub was closing the cellar and Flint was strapping all the boxes down tight, covering them with a canvas we had brought with us. Just as we finished up we heard a shout.

I turned and found Alex, looking very pissed off, coming our way. In one hand he held a gun I recognized as Tags personal gun, and in the other, he held the scruff of the back of Tags shirt, with Tags stumbling to catch up: we were caught. Alex threw Tags down in front of us and pointed the gun at him.

"Did you know?" he demanded in a loud tone. I looked down at Tags. He seemed to be alright, other then the blood trickling from a split lip. He wiped it off and stood up, dusting himself off.

"Alex we were only trying to…" I started.

"I don't care! I don't need or want your help. Any of it!" Alex said.

"Alex she'll kill you!" I said, "Don't be stupid! She'll turn and then she'll go for YOU. Letting her live is…"

"Is what I must do!" Alex yelled back, 'Don't you DARE try and tell me otherwise! You don't know anything! You don't get it! You don't understand or know about any of it. And nor do I want you to. You have to leave. Now."

"Alex…" I started. But Alex raised his gun. Instantly Flint and Dub raised theirs. I raised my hand, and pushed their guns down.

"We're not your enemy. You've done to much for us to be thankful for. We tried to help." I said, "But we'll leave."

"And you'll leave now." Alex added, "whatever you have packed is all you will get to pack. The gate is open. I will be shutting it behind you. And don't you EVER think about coming back." Alex green eyes were bright with a fire I recognized. It had been the same fire in his sister's eyes when she took out the infected. I licked my lips and sighed.

It was the way of the world now. Difficulties like these were not odd. The world had changed and the people had to change with it. As much as I didn't want to leave, as we had found safety, something rare in this world, and even rarer… a friend. But I knew a lost cause when I saw one. I stepped back, and got into the jeep, my friends slowly following behind me.

"To bad…" Dub muttered sadly from the back, "I really like them."

I said nothing. I kept thinking of Vera. Of Alex. I looked over my shoulder, and saw Alex standing there, gun in hand, glaring. I sighed. A sigh that was cut short by a gun-shot.

"Well, well, well, look who we meet up with out here?"

My breath caught in my throat and I almost chocked. Instantly everyone had jumped out of the jeep and aimed their guns. Alex spun around at the new voice, surprised, and found a row of guns all aimed in his direction.

I swore.

"Nice to see you again Dani." Adam said, with a cruel smile. Alex flashed a look at me.

"He with you?" Alex asked.

"No…" I spat, "He's not."

"Aw now don't be like that." Adam said, "We're all human… we have a responsibility to look out for each other."

"What do you want Adam?" I asked.

"Friends don't talk with guns pointed at each other."

"Then this should be saying a lot then huh?" I said.

"Who are you?" Alex asked.

"I am Adam. I used to know Alex and his… buddies… until they went all chivalry on us."

"Alex… Adam was part of the camp we got thrown out for wanting to help others survive." Flint said. Alex hesitated.

"Look, we're busy here…" Alex said to Adam.

"Oh no I got that. Looks like they were just leaving." Adam said, "But oohh… how shall I say this? They can't. In fact, let's make this simple. I do love simple things. And the simple of it is… we're taking over the castle!"

Alex shifted, eyeing the number of threats behind Adam. They were clearly outnumbered.

"You can't just waltz in here and take over…" Tags said.

"Really? Why not?" Adam laughed, "Cause in all honesty… I just did."

"Adam. People LIVE here…"

"Oh go call the cops." Adam hissed, "Meanwhile, I see a lot of food that's been waiting for me!"

"Adam! Look-y here!" came a call from the other side of the courtyard, "You should see this!" Adam smiled.

"After you." He said. Adam's goons come up behind us and prodded us forward with their guns. They took our weapons, and Alex joined us. We were pushed into the castle, past the kitchen, down corridors, and down a set of stairs to a big wooden door.

"Where are we going?" I asked Alex, knowing he knew the castle better then anyone. But Alex was silent. I suddenly remembered Vera… what would they do if they found her? But even as I asked the question I knew the answer.

The door was opened, and we were all pushed in. It was… well in short a dungeon. But the cells of old rusted bars were full of guns, all types, all sorts, of all sizes. More like an Armory, everything well organized, labeled and thought out. Adam smiled.

"Well… we just got lucky." He said.

Hours later, Adam and his gang had cleaned out the entire armory. Every clip and grenade was taken out and put who knows where. After one of is boys found keys to the cells, Adam thought it humors to keep my 'buddies' and I locked up there with Alex.

"Idiots…" Alex muttered after they left.

"Aw don't be to sad. We'll make sure we take good care of your food supply." Adam said with a sinister smile. He ordered some boys to stay by the door if we needed anything, claiming he wasn't as heartless as we thought.

"You knew they were here?" Alex asked me when they left. I shook my head. We had all been put in different cells, and Alex was across from me, facing the door, hanign his arms through the bars.

"He's got a streak in him that makes people want to follow him… but he's stupid. He probably ate their own food supply like a pig. He probably starved his own people out to feed himself. This is what he does. He takes what he wants, and then takes it from others. Once he finishes here… he'll go find some other camp to raid."

"Leech…" Alex muttered.

"Well said." Tags muttered.

"What will he do with us?" Alex asked.

"Who knows. We weren't exactly on… bargaining terms when we left. I almost fed him to the infected… but my conscious got the better of me." I said, "He could still hold that grudge, and knowing Adam he is."

"He could just leave us here to rot." Dub said, "He's done that before."

"Are you serious?" Alex asked, "What a lune…"

"Alex… if they find Vera… and they will. They'll search the entire castle for supplies." I said. Alex game me a sideward's glance.

"I know…" he said quietly. I said nothing, and sighed.

"Any chance of us getting out of here?" Tags asked. Alex scoffed.

"Not unless the keys decide to walk in here." Alex said, pulling his hands back through the bars, "We put the guns in here for a reason."

"Why did you put the guns in here anyway? I mean, it's not like the infected would steal them." Tags said. Alex licked his lips and sat against the wall.

"Maybe where you come from. But the infected around here have been known to fire their own weapons."

"Come again?" Flint asked.

"The Infected around here, aren't like your normal infected. They jump, they plan, and they learn. Not at a fast pace… but still. And they hold grudges." Alex said. I stepped back… remembering the behavior back when Vera got attacked.

"Alex… they can climb walls now…" I said. Alex looked up.

"What?"

"They climbed the wall to the encampment me and Vera took cover in…" I told him. Alex's eyes got wide.

"Then they can climb the walls to the castle…" Alex swore, "if Adam is as bad as he says, and with the population of infected around here, they'll be holding some serious grudges… we could have an entire freaking army of infected attack the castle and Adam wouldn't know… he'd be stuffing his face of food."

Flint swore, and Tags cursed.

"And we'll be sitting ducks." I muttered, my future looking grimmer then usual.

"No…" Alex said. We looked at him, "If we can survive the next 17 hours… we're home free."

"How so?" Dub asked. Alex looked at us, wondering if he should say it.

"Trust me." He said, "17 hours, and those keys will come walking through that door."

Six hours later, Adam came back in. By the look on his face and clenched fists… something was wrong. I marched straight up to Alex.

"GET HIM OUT! He yelled. Alex's cell was unlocked and two boys grabbed him and dragged him out. Adam grabbed Alex by the shirt and got in his face.

"How many live here?" Adam demanded. My heart skipped a beat, but Alex said nothing, and just glared. Adam swore, "Bring him!" Adam stomped off, his boys dragging Alex with them.

"They find her?" Tags asked. I put my head back against the wall and closed my eyes.

"Ya… they found her." I said darkly.

The dudgeon went quiet again, with the few sounds of the guards out by the door. It had gotten cold in the stone room, and we had all zipped up our jackets and huddled in a corner to keep warm. Tags had complained to the guards about the temperature down here, and they only laughed and said 'we'll get around to it'.

Just as my mind wondered back to Alex, the door opened and they threw Alex back in his cell. He stood still back turned to us, as they locked him back up and left.

"Alex?" Tags asked "You alright? Did they find her?" For a long moment, Alex didn't say anything.

"Ya… they found her." Alex said quietly, his voice shaking, "Made me… made me do it." I could feel the hate from where I was standing. A hate for Adam. Just standing there, that stance, he looked dangerous. If Adam had walked in right then, I don't think those metal bars would keep Alex from killing him.

"Ten hours left…" Alex said, "Eleven hours till he dies." I glanced at Tags and Flint, who exchanged looks. There was no comforting him now. Anyone who went through what he did… Adam just pissed of the wrong guy. Even I was angry… more then usual at Adam.


	7. 1 hour late

POV: Dani

Vera was dead. Gone. Shot and left. I thought knowing that would bring me some comfort… but it didn't. The only thing that brought me comfort was knowing Vera wouldn't have to suffer the life as an infected bloodthirsty figure that resembled a person. She would live the rest of her life with a unfathomable hunger for flesh. When they would have found her, she would have been half turned by then. Loss of hair, sagging skin of different, sickening colors, bloodshot eyes. A scary sight, but nothing compared to a fully turned infected up close. The stench of their breath from the rotting meat stuck in their teeth, and stale blood covering what was left of clothes and nothing more than rags hanging from their bodies of bones. I was glad Vera would not have to suffer through that. But it was obvious Alex had other thoughts… still thought he could save her. Adam cleared that dream up real fast. I thought up a few nasty names for my old enemy, getting worked up for no good… just because I could. Because he had hurt Vera and Alex.

I liked them, I realized. I liked Alex and Vera… a strong family with the will to survive that inspired me. They were among the few that still had a grasp of humanity left in them. Alex believed what he believed strongly, without hesitation or second thought. A young man who knew how to handle situations. A family trait, I suspected. Alex was a strong leader who had every intention in protecting his family or dying with them… and now with Vera gone, he seemed to accepted his fate. I could only imagine how he felt. The last of his family his bloodline gone. Vera was special to him… and oddly enough special to me. It had been to long since I had seen someone like Vera, who still seemed sane enough to have a decent conversation. In fact, the more I thought about her, the more I regretting trying to kill her. But it was for everyone's own good, including hers, one side of me argued. I sighed, torn between the two. It's over, I concluded, it doesn't matter anymore. She's dead.

We heard the door open, and every looked up. Down the stairs came three of the guards, a wooden box in hand. The open door brought the smell of rain and damp, refreshing air, with the sound of the first drops of a storm. The guards set the box down and began a game of cards. They had moved in to keep dry. Again Tags made the comment of the temperature, and now that the guards had to be down here with us, asked for a fire. Adam gave them two torches.

The eleven hours passed, and nothing had happened. We had wanted to ask Alex what he had meant, and that the seventeen hours he had mentioned earlier, were up. But the gaurds in the room kept us quiet. The room had warmed up to a comfortable temperature and we were brought something to eat, which left Flint in a rant about being treated like animals, and cursing Adam right and left. The rest of us ate quietly. I saw Alex separate his food, eating only half of it, and saving most of his water.

Suddenly Alex stood up and walked over to the gate of his cell. We watched him closely, waiting to see what he would do. But he did nothing. He just leaned back against the gate, as if waiting for it to open itself.

The door to the dungeon opened again, now bringing the sound of a heavy rain, and a drenched guard dressed in heavy clothing and dripping hat in an attempt to keep dry. For a moment the figure stood their dripping, and then came down the stairs.

"you cheated!" one boy said, throwing his cards down.

"Did not…" the other one defended himself, "I don't know how to play this game. You just taught me."

"One more game guys, then I'm off to sleep." The third said as the new guard approached.

"Where are the keys?" All three looked up confused, and suddenly two of the guards fell off their chair to the stone floor, unconscious, and the third was thrown against the wall, a knife to his neck.

"I would hate to see what happens if you make me ask twice." The guard was shaking, visibility horrified. We all just starred. The guard's shaking hands lifted the key.

"Open them." The figure demanded. The guard shakily started on Alex's cell who had been patiently waiting by the gate. Alex stepped out and knocked the guard out with one swing. The boy crumpled, and Alex caught the keys.

"Idiot…" Alex muttered and unlocked my cell. I looked at the figure who had come to our rescue… and my jaw almost dropped. It was Vera.


	8. The Family Secret

POV: Vera

Flint stumbled backwards, and Tags crouched low ready to pounce when they saw me. Dani just froze. Alex came up beside me and gave wrapped his arms around me in a hug. My entire body wanted to give out. I was to weak to do much now.

"You're a bit late." He said.

"Um… ya… sorry. Didn't know we had been over run by a bunch of stuff-your-face idiots. I'm out for barely a day and the place goes to pot. What did you do?" I asked.

"Nothing… they just walked in." Alex said.

"She's… she's…" Flint started. Alex and I looked at the wide-eyed boys.

"Not infected…" Dani said, "Not even partly…"

"No… no she's not." Alex said, "Nor is she dead."

"But not completely alive either… yet at least." I said.

"I am SOO confused…" Dub muttered, "I thought you guys said she had been bitten? And then you said… that Adam made you kill her…"

"You knew she wouldn't turn." Dani said, "You knew all along. She's been bitten before hasn't she?" Alex looked at me.

"Yes…" Alex said, "But every time, she goes through the stages… they're painful and I've always been there. But this time…"

"I'll be ok…" I assured him.

"Wait… someone needs to explain this to me." Tags said, "I'm beyond confused."

I looked at Alex. I knew what I saw in his eyes. He knew we had to tell them… but he promised he would never tell anyone unless I agreed. I bit my lip.

"Look, we'll deal with that later… I don't know how much time we have left." Alex said, "The infected could be right outside. We have to do something."

"Before or after our population problem?" I asked sitting down.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry," Flint said, not at all sounding sorry, 'But there's no way I'm working side by side with someone who's been bitten. I want the truth if you want my help." I swallowed, hoping maybe Dani would protest and defend me, or maybe my brother say something. But they both said nothing. I sighed and gave him the nod.

"What I'm about to tell you, we haven't told anyone outside our family. Our entire family lived here after the epidemic. We did pretty well for a family of geniuses. We had military knowledge, medical, agriculture… the building blocks of what you see here."

"Makes sense…" Tags said.

"The Carper family has a gene in them… bold blood's, is what we call it. It's what allows us to go into hyper mode… which is just all our senses switching up top notch. That's what Vera was in when you attacked me that night. She would have killed you all and not even used a bullet, and you wouldn't have gotten a bullet off either. Hyper mode is a kill mode that has kept the Carper family alive in the military, and because the only people who can bring us out of Hyper mode is another family member, there was always someone nearby. We were a tight knit family. When the epidemic first hit, Vera we knocked into hyper mode… her first time. None of my family had the bold blood like she did. Her hyper mode was genuine. Usually when someone gets angrier, the more likely they'll rage into doing something stupid. But for Vera… the angrier she is the smarter she acts. The more she gets beat down the stronger she gets. She got bit by an infected two months into the epidemic. My uncle convinced the rest of the family that the bold blood wouldn't turn… it was strong blood that would fight off the infection… and it did."

I shivered, remembering the night I had first gotten bitten. It was a dark night for me… a painful one, but not the worst night in my life… not the one I had nightmares about.

"Since then, Vera's been bitten two other times and survive each time. But each time the infected seem to get angrier. My father always told us to be careful and that it was possible that the hyper mode can take effect and you can never get back out of it. Vera seemed to have control over it though… until that night happened."

"The night she has nightmares about." Dani said bluntly. I closed my eyes, in an attempt to shut the story out.

"There, you have the story." I said, "Happy?" Flint opened his mouth to ask… to ask about that night. But thankfully Dani shot him a look.

"Well…" Flint said after a moment of silence… 'That explains a lot."

"What exactly happens if you can't get pulled out of a hyper mode?" Dani asked.

"You pretty much become a killing machine… man and infected alike, you loose your ability to care for the difference." I said.

"And only you can bring her out of it?" Tags asked, "Great… I'll make a point never to go anywhere with her by myself."

"Look…" I stood up, "I'm not the problem at the moment. The problem is leeching off our supplies. We have to get rid of him."

"It's six to one out there. And leeching or not they're not infected. We can't just kill them…" Tags said.

"Can we?" Flint asked.

"No…" Dani answered, "Look, we know in infected are starting to climb walls… even with the gate closed they'll hit that wall like a wave. We have a threat both inside and outside the castle."

"Our best bet to survive through this, is to win the castle over again. We can take the infected out better from these walls. We split into two teams." Alex said, "One for each threat… the majority on the threat inside."

"Teams?" Tags asked.

"That is… if you'll still have us." Dani said. Alex licked his lips.

"Look… I over reacted and I'm sorry…" Alex started.

"You didn't over-react. You were right to act they way you did. You knew she would survive… and we tried to kill her."

"I couldn't tell you... it's a family promise to keep it a secret. But we had no choice."

"So no mud?" Dani said.

"No mud." Alex agreed.

"Um… excuse me… I'm the one who almost got assassinated… don't I get a say?"

"Murdered…" Flint said, with a smile, "Almost got murdered, assassination is what happens to important people." Vera glared at him.

"Right so what's the plan?" Dani asked.

"Two groups. One figures out how to deal safely with the infestation of infected, while the others deal with the leeches." Alex said, "Vera?"

"Alex I can take care of the infected problem if we had the right equipment." Vera said.

"Right equipment…" Alex suddenly looked at her full on, "Vera… are you sure?"

"Alex, it's that or get eaten alive." Vera said.

"What?" Dub asked.

"Alright." Alex said, "Alright look, Vera is going into town. Adam doesn't know she's alive and that might come in handy later. I'll stay… I'm the only other one who knows the castle."

"I'll go with Vera." Dani volunteered.

"Right. The rest of you are with me." Alex said, "How long will you be?"

"We'll be back by nightfall." Vera said, "Meet you at the south tower." Alex nodded.

"Flint's got the car by the gate… we can take that." Dani said, "How you holding up?" He looked at me. I took a big breath. I wasn't going to tell the truth: that I was still a little wobbly on my feet.

"We best hurry." I told him and went for the stairs. We all started to leave, but I saw Alex grab Dani's arm and held him back. I stayed at the top of the stairs and listened.

"Look," Alex started, "She's all I got left. Going to the city… well just know that night she has nightmares about happened in the city… I'm sure she's a little shaken up about it, but she won't show it. She's a fighter, and she doesn't accept help easily. But Dani I'm telling you she needs is. The bite will leave her weak. She'll push herself, ware her self out. I don't care if you lock her in the car, do not let her ware herself dead."

"I'll take care of her, Alex… I promise." Dani said, "I'm just worried about this Hyper Mode thing…" Alex sighed, obviously something that had been on his mind as well.

"She's loosing control of it. I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that you'll be fine. You're putting yourself in danger going with her and to the city no less. Where the chances of her going into hyper mode are bigger than anywhere else. Knock her out Dani… and do it before she fully turns. If she's in hyper mode you won't get close enough to. Knock her out when you see it coming."

"How do I know?" Dani asked.

"You'll know." Alex said, "And don't hesitate to knock her out… or you'll be dead, and she'll be left roaming the planet killing everything she can get her hands on…"

The rest of their conversation was lost as Flint pulled up in the car, headlights of.

"Better hurry, they might of seen us from a window…" Flint said. I nodded, and ran through the rain into the jeep. But Alex and Dani didn't come out… they were still talking. GOOD, I thought. I shifted the seat back and leaned it back so I could sit more comfortably. He was driving, obviously because if I passed out behind the wheel, there goes our plan. I saw a dark figure by the door, waiting for the two boys to come out: Dub. He was wrapped in a tight jacket, watching in both directions. I saw Flint standing by the entrance to the castle keep, where Adam and the rest would come if they did see us. I tried to find Tags, but through the rain and dark clouds I didn't spot him. Somewhere up high, I guessed. A good advantage point if anyone came. A sudden feeling came over me… these boys knew what they were doing. Knew what to do… they were strong… not like the others I had met. But there was something else about them… they way they talked to each other, or acted around each other. They looks they gave or words they exchanged… they were family. Not like me and Alex... not by blood. But family none the less.

Finally Dani and Alex came out. A few more words exchanged, and Dani got in the car. He shut the door, closing the cold rain and noise out as well. It was a bit odd to be in a car with Dani… somewhat still a stranger, yet I was about to go into the city with him. The thought of returning to the city rattled me. I wasn't excited for sure. But the thought of the infected climbing our castle walls willed me forward.

Dub came over to the window, and Dani rolled it down. Through the rain and under the hood of his jacket, Dub seemed to be a different person… a dangerous one. Especially with his rifle next to him. He looked strong and almost menacing… and suddenly I realized with surplice… this was the kid I had taken out that first night… so easily. I shifted uncomfortably.

"You be careful…" Dub said.

"You do the same. Don't let Adam win this time… he's getting use to it. Don't let him destroy the last good thing in this world… alright?" I looked up, and Dub nodded, before taking rounded to the back of the car, where Alex and Flint. Dani rolled the window back up as the boys pushed the car to the gate and a ways out into the turndra. We weren't going to risk Adam hearing the car. Alex opened my door and leaned in. He gave me a quick kiss on the forehead, and a tight hug.

"You do what you have to when the time comes… you understand me? They aren't people… they're infected." He said.

"Alex… if I do it right it won't come to that." I said. He gave me another hug bor shutting the door and taking off with two more shadows.

I could see Dani open his mouth to ask something… but he shut it. He looked forward out at the dark tundra, and turned the car on.

"Which way?" he asked. I pointed.


	9. From Castle to Les Schwab

"Which way?" he asked. I pointed.

"There's a path up ahead that way. Just keep driving and we'll hit it. Then when we come to it… take a left." I said. We moved forward, through the rain. It hit the jeep, liking fingers tapping on the windshield, and I felt my tired body send me a message to sleep. But I couldn't… not now.

"So what did you mean? What you said to Dub?" I asked. Dani had both hands on the wheel, leaning forward a bit, concentrating ahead of us. He didn't move his eyes off the path when he answered.

"Me and the boys are family… Adam killed two of our family members back when we were on the same side." He said. I blinked.

"He what?"

"He sent them on a suicide mission, claiming it was chivalry. He didn't give them a choice. They either got shot by Adam… or took their chances with the infected. They figured they'd take their chances. They were both dead before sunset." Dani kept his eyes forward, his hands in a tight grip on the wheel.

"That's when the problems started…" Dani continued, "Me and Adam where at each other's neck's all the time, arguing, threatening. But no one was stupid enough to stand up against Adam. When we found survivors, and Adam said to leave them for the infected… well it was the last straw. Me, Dub, Flint, and Tags took them in. gave them food an water and Adam called it stealing. Turned the whole community… what was left of it… against us. He's got a way of talking people into things. Anyway, one night Tags heard of Adam and his pals planning to take us out… we were a liability… a danger to their survival. We packed up in less than an hour and left.

"So why is Adam out here? Is he Hunting you guys?" I asked. Dani weaved around a tree before answering.

"For a few weeks he did. But in the end he had to go back because his plan backfired on him. You see, with the five of us gone… he only had a few guards left. Guards are what we called the people who protected the community. The infected got into camp… maybe two of them. So why is he this far out? My guess is he stopped hunting us when his little community began to hunt HIM. They got angry that he chased us out. In which Adam would respond by with-holding food. Whoever is with him now… in the castle… is probably all that's left

"That black-hearted devil." I muttered.

"So when I told Dub not to let him destroy the last good thing in the world… I meant you guys. You and you're brother." He said. I was silent. What could I say to that? I mean… I had refused to let them in… and was angry at them when they DID get in. I had been so rude… oblivious to what they had gone through.

"We're sorry about Adam… and I speak for all of us when I say that it may have been our fault that Adam is threatening you guys." Dani said. I scoffed.

"you're thinking to much into it." I said, "If Adam is as big as an Idiot as you say he is, then this would have happened sooner or later. Better now when we have more people on our side." I saw Dani smile.

"there's the road." I said. Dani stopped, at the edge of what was left of the road. Once it had been a nice gravel road, easy to pick out among the forest. But now the rain had washed most of it away, and branches and bushes and weeds were a result of lack of maintenance. Dani took a left.

"So is there a lot of infected in the city?" Dani asked. I looked at him.

"You really want to know?" I asked.

"That's why I asked."

"All the infected we get… the groups and packs… come from the city." I said, "And they've been coming for years."

"So a lot?"

"Well… ya. But less than there was when it started. I'd say about 12,000 gallons of bleach worth have decreased their population."

"Bleach… genius." Dani said.

"My cousin thought of it… a big time chemist back in the day." I said.

"You family was like YEARS prepared for something to happen…" Dani muttered. I gave a weak laugh.

"Ya… my grandpa said it was the family's luck. I swear my grandpa thought our family was better then the entire population put together."

"And… he died that night in the city?" Dani asked. I hesitated.

"No…" I finally said, "He died 24 hours later."

"He was bitten?"

"Look… I'm tired. The road will lead you to the city. When you get to the bride, wake me up." I said. Dani fell silent. And I tried to close my eyes and sleep. But thanks to my wonderful driver the memories of that night were now fresh once again. Driving down the road… my father cracking joke. My mother laughing… The screech of the tires, and rush of the water. The scream of the infected and the sound of ripping flesh.

"Do you have music?" I asked. Dani pulled a CD from the dashboard.

"There's nothing on the radio… but you should like this…" Dani slid the CD into the player and hit play. Then I heard the music start… piano… soft, slow… just like my mother use to play. I closed my eyes. I don't know how many times I dozed off but I must have been out for at least a half hour. We hit a bump and my head knocked against the window waking me up.

When I looked up, we were out of the forest, now on a paved road in the valley heading towards town. Cars covered our path, window shields broken, doors left open…

Dani slowed to 35, and weaved around the cars, slowly making are way through the maze. I saw the old green road sign… it's words to faded to read much but I was able to make some of it out.

_… 23 miles ahead_.

"I don't think I apologized for knocking your friend out…" I said, leaning my head against the window closing my eyes again.

"Dub? Oh he'll live. Wining about a head ache now and then… but the fact a girl knocked him out has kept him from bring the subject up."

"Being a girl's got nothing to do with it." I said.

"Ya…" he answered. I sighed, my breath fogging up the window. For a moment I just starred at it, but then I dragged my finger across it drawing a line and then another one forming an X.

"HOLY…!" Dani slammed on his brakes, and I swiped my arm quickly across the window to clear it, revealing an ugly face of a young woman. Her hair and what was left of her clothes clung to her in the rain. Her flesh wasn't falling off her, like the normal infected, but it had begun to droop, showing the red veins under her eyes. Her cheeks were sunken in, and dark circles had grown around her eyes.

For a moment, she just starred back at me through the window, her jaw hanging open, her head twisting to the side. Another one… an older male, at the front of the car was walking slowly toward us.

"They won't attack…" I said, hearing Dani grab his gun.

"Oh really?" Dani said, quickly checking if it was loaded, and then cocked it, "Why not?"

"Their bite wounds are still bleeding…" I said, seeing the wound on the woman's shoulder and on the man's leg. The rain made it look like blood was flowing freely from the wounds, "They're not fully infected yet." I said. I starred at the women. Her hand slapped against the window, with a metal _clack._ Her wedding ring, now just barely dangling on her finger had hit the glass. Then she hissed.

"Times like this and I really hate life…" Dani muttered, catching the ring as well. He looked up at the male in front of us… now just reaching the hood of the car. He came around, and pushed the woman back.

"Let's get out of here…" I mummered. Dani shifted to drive, and we drove away.

"I ever find the guy who let loose the virus… I'll kill him…" Dani said.

"You can't…" I said, "He's already dead."

We got to the city, it's dark looming shadow-like monster dominating the dark sky. It had stopped raining, but left the city an even darker color then I remembered. We passed dark allys, with shadows I would only run through and if I had at least a eight pounds of grenades.

"Stop here…" I said. Dani pulled to a slow stop, his eyes scanning windows and streets. I pointed to a old Commercial Tire car garage, 'Park in there…"

"Why not keep driving?" he asked.

"The street gets blocked with cars up ahead. You won't be able to pass. And if we leave our car anywhere closer, they'll smell it." I said. Dani hesitated, but then pressed on the gas gently. We moved forward and backed into one of the only empty garages. Dani popped open the trunk, and for a moment we sat there starring at the city through the garage door.

"So where we going exactly?" Dani asked.

"Circuit city… Best Buy, a small shop on Huston street." I said.

"How much we hauling back?"

"If we score… hopefully a Canon camera, a Laptop, a hose, a few specific wire, and some extra guns, and a battery the size of my fist. Possibly a LS Laser 2000, 4k edition."

"And… that's all suppose to take care of the infected climbing the walls?" Dani asked.

"Yes… it's suppose to finish the project my family started. They knew… we knew, that infected could learn… and eventually would climb walls. So we started on reinforcements so we'd be ready… but it never got finished. I can finish it though." I said. I saw Dani look at me on the side of my eye.

I popped my door open, and Dani followed. We went to the back of the car and each threw on a backpack. We grabbed our guns, packing over a dozon boxes of ammo. Dani tucked a pistol in the back of his pants, and handed me a shoulder holster.

"You ever draw from one of these?" he asked as I took it, and slid it over my shoulder.

"Once…" I answered, "Come on… we stashed some stuff over here…" I said as we finished packing up and shut the trunk. It was cold, and I began to shiver. The rainy weather didn't help, and made everything wet. I knew cold fingers weren't good for survival. Fumbling around with cold fingers trying to reload a gun could be fatal.

"We?" Dani asked, I didn't answer and just walked over to the lobby door of the building. Dani was close behind watching for any movement. I went around the counter, and pulled out a black bag. I tore it open and pulled out big puffy coats.

"Can we wear those? I'm freezing…" Dani said. I tossed one to him… and he caught wiff of it, "Uahhh… they smell…"

"To us they do." I said, and dumped the rest of the contents out of the bag. A big pile of what looked like salt crystals fell to the floor, "They've been sitting in a chemical my cousin made. They'll help keep us from being sniffed out by in the infected. Mask our smell."

"Can we wear more then one?" he asked. I shook my head, and pulled out a pile of newspapers that had been sitting next to the bag.

"Wearing more then one will constrict movement. But since they're not warm enough…" I crumpled a piece of newpaper into a ball and tossed it to Dani. He caught it, and hesitated.

"Smart… lightweight, doesn't constrict movement, and it insulates." He stuffed it under his jacket and began to crumple more.

"Alex's idea." I said. I grabbed a jacket myself and threw it over my head to slip it on. The movment made me dizzy and I slowed down. It almost hurt to pull it up…

"Here…" Dani pulled the jacket up over my shoulders, and around my neck. I zipped it up and we began to stuff our jackets.

"Avoid stuffing around the joints… like the shoulders." I said. He nodded.

"Vera… can I ask you something?" he said. I looked at him, "What did Alex mean back there? About 'when the time comes.'" I shoved more newspaper under my jacket, trying to avoid where my guns were holstered to make an easy draw. When I finished, I looked at Dani. When I did, I felt something… something odd. He was being so nice…

"He was talking about when I meet up with my father." I said. Dani stopped and looked back at me, "He's part of the infected population in the city." Dani said nothing. I didn't want him to. He finished, and double checked the rifle before slinging it on his back. We walked out of the lobby, and at the dark, damp streets of dark looming buildings and an awful stank in the air.

"This should be interesting." I muttered as we started off.


	10. Best Buy

Walking down the streets again… like we were on a normal Sunday stroll. Passing cars and shops, and hoping the sun would stay out as long as possible. It would have been nice, if the cars and shops we were passing weren't abandoned and broken, glass shattered and blood splattered. It would have been nice if our hopes of the sun staying out had to do with keeping warm, instead of being afraid of when it went down, causing shadows for the infected to hide in.

Would have been nice if the streets didn't stink, and everything was overgrown with weeds and vines and nature had long ago began to reclaim it's territory. Windows were impossible to see through, unless you were right up against it, stained in gray and brown. Dark buildings that towered over us, their windows holding the eyes of imagination, stalking us as we walked down the street.

Once again, the reality of the outbreak hit me, and I felt my chest tighten and my eyes start to burn. All the families… all the innocent people…

"In here…" Dani said, stepping into a old starbucks. Without question I jumped in after him, pulling a gun.

"Where?" I whispered… Dani looked at me, and I suddenly realized he wasn't holding a gun, "why aren't you…"

"Let's take a break…" he said.

"We only went a few blocks!" I hissed. And then I realized he had seen the look on my face as reality hit me… the teary eyes, and exasperated face. I remembered Alex had told him to be sure I took it easy. But this was ridiculous. I put my gun away.

"I'm fine… we need to move…" I said. Dani stepped in front of me as I went for the door.

"Yes we do… and the sooner you sit down, the sooner our break starts… and the sooner we get on our way." He said. I crossed my arms. Everything in me told me… it wasn't going to happen. Years of seeing how I reacted to being TOLD what to do, told me, there was no way. It was just who I was… just my personality. Even if Alex told me to sit down, MAYBE I would have, after a long and tiring argument. Either way… I knew I was NOT going to take a break.

So when I found myself sitting in a chair, I wondered what the heck just happened.

Dani's eyes smiled, before he peeked out the door, his hand on his gun, watching for movement. A bit annoyed, and confused as to how I GOT in the chair, I huffed. But my eyes wondered back outside and I soon was overwhelmed.

We took a five minute break. Nothing to long… but enough to breath. I noticed Dani didn't seemed phased a bit as he looked around the once populated city. But before I could ask, we were up and back on track.

We wre about a block away from Best Buy… I could see the once bright blue and yellow sign, now rotted away and only the B_st _u_ showed. We were about to cross the street, when an infected stepped out from behind a car. Both me and Dani, laid flat against a Sherry's restaurant wall, as still as stone. Dani's hand went to the gun in the back of his denim's… and mine hand went under my coat to my own gun.

"Don't shoot it…" I whispered, "You'll attract others…"

"You want me to ASK it to leave?" Dani whispered back.

"You have a knife..." I said, seeing the sheath on his belt...

"I've got better aim with a gun…" Dani said… I stifled a growl.

"In here…" I said, and backed up a ways and stepped inside the Sherry's restaurant. Dani followed as I went to a back room, and found an electric room… and a metal ladder leading up.

We took to the roof, and jumped over onto Edward's theater, a clock shop, Freddy's Pawn shop, and then Garby's Grocery store. We eventually passed the infected down on the street, and then headed back down. We crossed the street, ducking behind cars, and finally got to best buy. I went straight to the back, and quickly browsed the aisles out of breath.

"Look for… something like… this…" I pulled out a clear box with a similar wire I was looking for, "But it says 5…" Dani nodded and quickly went around to check the other aisles. When he came back he held a box…

"This work?" he asked. I took and looked it over. As I read the back of the box, he spoke up again. "You're still out of breath… and you're face is red…" he said.

"That's because we ran…" I said.

"We'll take another break…" Dani said.

"Come on! By the time we finish this your pal Adam will have buried the bodies…" and to make it better… I started to cough. My anger, and exasperated breath and the cold air were NOT a good combination. By the time I finished my coughing fit, and Dani and made sure nothing had heard… I knew I wasn't getting out of it.

"We'l sit in the back…" Dan said. Headed to the back around what I think was suppose to be the computer desk. We sat behind it, a big screen TV up on the wall in front of us, acting as a mirror that let us see the rest of the store. I involuntarily huffed down, suddenly grateful for the break. Dani sat next to me, holding his rifle across his lap.

For a while we sat in silence, like we had last time. But I could tell Dani was thinking, and eventually I found out about what

"What's… it like? You know… turning…" Dani asked. I leaned my head against the desk and sighed

"It's not fun. And each time is worse than the first." I said.

"Does it hurt?" Dani asked. I liked my lips, feeling a bit awkward.

"At first…" I said, "The bite stings like heck… and every nudge, and breath slowly becomes more and more agonizing. You begin to feel just uncomfortable. You get really thirsty, and hot. Then you begin to feel like your skin is on fire. You can feel the infection work through your body… infest every cell every muscle. Every time you breath it's like you fuel it… and it works further into your body. I can feel… everything… I can feel each muscle strand it attaches itself. It's an exploding pain… like it's tearing you apart from the inside. The first time it happened, I felt like I was suffocating, which made me panic. My family was fighting off infected for weeks I screamed so loud."

"24 hours of that?" he asked. I shook my head.

"No… 15. It feels like years. But then it reaches my heart… and there's one last… unbearable explosion of pain through my entire body. Everything burns. Your eyes feel so dry, and your mouth feels like it's in a pool of blood. Muscles tighten so hard, they rip. And then all at once, you know… it's in your heart. It's infected. It feels like it's going to burst, stretching everything around it as it beats."

"It's it suppose to be… when it reaches your heart everything goes numb?" he asked. I nodded.

"Yes… that's when you officially turn. But I don't. I feel everything. And that's the second phase… and the infected are lucky they can't feel it when it comes." Dani was silent.

"Eventually it wears off, and you're left shaking, hungry, thirsty and sore. You realize your muscles didn't really tear, you're heart wasn't going to explode, you skin isn't burned, and your mouth is blood free. Everything still hurts because the memory is still fresh. But it doesn't last."

"still… for a body to go through something like that… it can be traumatizing." Dani said. I nodded.

"It was. For a 12 year old girl it was the end of her world. But my family helped me through it." I said.

"No wonder you can hardly keep up…" Dani muttered.

"What?" I looked at him.

"Nothing…" he replied, "Where to next?"

"Circuit city… two miles up…" I said. Dani nodded, and stood up before holding a hand down to me.

I took it.

We started down the street, dodged infected, checked a few random stores that looked promising and kept moving. But it took us a lot longer to get to circuit city then I had hoped, and by the looks of the sun, we would get their just after dark.


	11. Circuit City

We avoided dark ally's and closed in areas, that might prove fatal. Working our way around buildings and avoiding attention anyway would could. I continued to sniff the sleeve on my coat, wondering how long the smell would stick around before it wore off and we would leave our own sent everywhere. But the coats had been sitting in those bags for years… much longer then they had been intended to, but long enough to hold a stench deep in the fibers, masking our human smell. We stopped by a Hastings, it's windows shattered allowing us an easy entrance. I looked through the limited electronics, and found nothing.

"I remember this game…" Dani said. I looked over and found him peering through the glass window at Xbox 360 games. I slid back the glass, and pulled one out. _Skyrim: Elder Scrolls_.

"Gosh when this came out I was like the first one that bought it." Dani said looking it over.

"Isn't that the one that caused all those fights in waiting lines?" I asked. Dani laughed and nodded.

"I was like 7 when it came out. No one picked on a seven year old at the front of the line with a jar of saved up change."

"I remember my brother playing that…" I said, "He was really into that game."

"I loved this game… man all the quests and stuff you could do. I was like an expert archer and blacksmith, and had some many dragon calls it wasn't even funny. And the dragons! Oh gosh I remember those dragons being the coolest things ever… There was this one guy, I played online with, who was like an expert on Skyrim. He always gave me tips and cheats and then my account got hacked by some jerk, and he found all my stuff for me again… oh gosh I lost all my dragon armor and everything…" I had to smile. DRAGON ARMOR? That was xbox games for you.

"Geeze what was his name… Baaa… Bronze…tack… something…"

"BrawnTank85" I asked. Dani looked at me.

"Ya…" I raised my eyebrows and gave him 'are you serious' look.

"That was my brother…" I said. Dani stared at me hesitating.

"You're kidding…" he said. I shook my head, and we both laughed, "Small world…" He put the game back, "Remind me to thank him for returning all my weapons and armor to me…" I said. I smiled and nodded.

We got on our way again, the sun beginning to sink behind the skyline of buildings. I knew we were in trouble… but it was my fault. We were moving slow because of me. I was having a hard time moving as fast. Usually, I would have practically been done and we would be heading back to the car. But I didn't have enough strength to move like that. Fact is, the longer we walked the slower I was getting. I just didn't have energy. I ran out of breath quickly, found myself dragging my feet, and stumbled on a few things. I had hoped Dani didn't notice, but I had a feeling he was keeping count.

"Why don't we take a break?" Dani said. I glanced up and down a street before looking at him.

"No." I said, "Not this time… we're almost there…" I said.

"Vera…" he said. I stopped, realizing he had never said my name before, "We should take a break."

"We will… when we get there. I promise. Please? I won't fight you for a break if we are there… but it's almost dark and we don't have cover…" I saw Dani think it over.

"Fine…" he muttered, dropping a strap of his backpack and throwing it around in front of him. He reached in and pulled out Harvest healthy bars, handing one to me. I took it.

"We'll camp out in Circuit City tonight…" Dani said, "Or if we find a better place to set up. But we need to keep in mind we might not make it there by tonight…" I took a bite of the bar, and chewed. Without a word I started off, at a little faster pace. I needed to pick it up. I needed to move faster. Which is what I was going to do.

We got about another block down and hit a road block… literally. Big cement blocks and cars made it almost impossible to walk through. We had to move slowly, checking every car we passed. By the time we saw the end of the trail of crashed cars… it was dusk. Dark, but enough light to see. We could see circuit city in the distance… or at least the familiar street it was suppose to be on. But we also began to hear more and see more movement. The city was going to come alive soon… with the infected. Dani jumped up on a car hood, his rifle out, looking through the scope.

"We're clear for a couple hundred yards…" he said. He looked back and found me sliding off another hood further down. I had pushed myself and now I was regretting it. Dani held a hand down to me, and again I took it. He helped me onto the hood, and as soon as I stood up, I felt my head go light. Eventually I focused again. I glanced at Dani to see if he noticed… he hand't. He was looking though is scope again.

"Alright… we clear these cars, and follow the canal. We can't cross the bridge… to many of them. We see if there's another crossing…" He jumped down slinging his rifle across his back and held both hands up to me. I hesitated…

I stepped over and put my hands on his shoulders, his hands on my waist and I jumped down. This time, I visibly wavered on my feet, and my vision blacked out for a second.

"Whoa…" I heard Dani. I shook my head, my vision coming back. I realized Dani's hands were still on my waist and my hands were still on his shoulders… "You alright?" he asked. I swear I could feel the heat from his face he was so close.

"Fine…" I said, hesitating before pulling away.

"We'll cross the canal and move around…" Dani said. He started off, and I followed.

Once we cleared the stock of cars, we moved off road. High weeks snagged our pants, and crickets jumped left and right, their music surfacing. We got to the canal a few hundred yards from the bridge, and to our disappointment… it was full of water, the dark liquid glistening in the moonlight.

"We'll have to swim…" Dani said, dropping his backpack on the ground, and pulled out a rope.

"Well don't you just come prepared…" I said quietly. Dani smiled. He tied one end off on the fence that was suppose to fence off the canal, tugging on it hard to test it's strength. He grabbed his backpack.

"I'll go first…" Dani said. He slid down the edge of the canal towards the water, and slid in. I heard him let a hasty breath out from the cold, and watched him disappear across the canal, holding the rope, and his backpack over his head.

For a while I stood there in the dark alone. I could still hear the crickets… and then there was a twig snap… I I thought it was. I spun around, my gun already drawn, going down on one knee. My eyes scanned the dark trying to see. My breath came heavy.

"Ok… Vera…" I heard Dani call to me from across the canal, "You're good." I hesitated, still waiting for something to move. Nothing did… and I swallowed. I had an idea what it was… what was out there. And I had an idea of why it wasn't attacking me. Or maybe it was just my imagination.

But then I saw something move. I didn't know if it was a trick of my eye… but I doubted it.

Quickly, I slid down the side of the canal and into the water, grabbing the rope. I took in a sharp gasp, the cold water biting at what warmth I had left. The current of the water was stronger then I thought, and I was glad I had a rope to help pull me across. I wondered how Dani had done it with a backpack and gun over his head. I got about halfway across when I felt my body ware out. I felt exhaustion settle in.

"Vera…" I heard Dani call out again. He was listening to my splashing, and heard I had stopped moving across, "Vera…" he said again a little more paniced.

"Fine…" I called out, my voice shaking. Just as I said it I heard a splash coming from behind me… like a body had jumped into the water. Then the rope I was holding onto, started to jerk.

I started to move again. As I got closer I could make Dani's dark figure out. When he saw me, he quickly slid down the side of the canal and met me at the water's edge. He grabbed me and pulled me up to flat dry ground.

"Cut the rope… quick…" I breathed.

"What?"

"Cut it!" I hissed. Dani drew his knife and slashed at the rope. It snapped and we heard a scream… a gargling scream from a bloody throat. Dani suddenly had his rifle out, aiming it at the water, frantically searching for the source of the scream.

"Come on… they would have heard that…" I said, getting on my knees to stand up. Dani came over and steadied me, a hand on my shoulder.

"Think the smell off the jackets are wearing off?" Dani asked.

"The water probably didn't help… but he smelt us before that…" I said.

"How?" I asked.

"He recognized the scent…" I muttered. Dani glanced uneasily at me.

We got around the bridge, before we stopped to shed some of our wet clothes, and all the paper stuffing, threw them out, wrung our clothes, and dried them as best we could before slipping them back on again, under our soaked jackets.

"This is not good.." Dani said putting his coat back on, "Even _I_ can smell us now."

"We best get to Circuit City fast. We can hide there until morning." I said. My chest wheezed and I suppressed a cough. I didn't want to take another break until we got there. Not now. We had to get to Circuit City."

"This way…" Dani whispered. We now ran through the dark, with our guns out, working our way through and around buildings block by block. We had a close run-in with the infected quite a few times. One of which happened in a house we had decided to cut through.

We came in through the back door, and found ourselves in the kitchen. Dani scanned the room and motioned me forward. Without a sound, I moved quickly the open doorway, while Dani moved over to a door at the far wall. We stopped and listened… nothing. Dani opened the door… it was a pantry. Empty with a few broken jars and torn tin cans. Dani moved to me, and we both moved from the kitchen to the living room. I could see the entry way, through the stair railings… and just beyond that a door. But we didn't make it that far. There was a roar from up stairs. A roar that made my blood go cold. Imedietly Dani and I went back to the back door. We had just barley got back to the kitchen before we both saw the drunken figure lunging across the living room. We both knew a gun shot would save us now… but kill us both later… so I took up a pan, and swung wide getting the monster on the head… but he still fell towards me. Dani came out of nowhere, throwing his entire body into the infected, tackling him across the kitchen, and into the fridge, knocking both doors open. The infected clawed and growled, but Dani held him back, pushing his head away from his neck. I ran at them, and jumped, kicking the door to the fridge shut across his throat. There was a loud crack, and the infected let loose his grip on Dani's coat, and went limp. Dani let go and stepped back, letting the body fall to the ground. I could see the blood start to drip from the bottom of the door. I saw Dani step back, a little shaky. I starred hard, wondering if he had gotten bitten or hurt.

"Dani?" I asked him. He looked at me, and saw the concern on my face. He held a hand up to reassure me.

"No I'm fine…" he said, and turned his shoulder in my direction. He coat was shredded, a little bit of blood seeping through.

"Did he do that?" I asked. Dani shook his head, and motioned across the counter.

"The knife on the counter… didn't see it." Dani said. I saw the knife on the counter… a silver glint in the moonlight. He must of fallen across it when he tackled the infected. We looked at each other, knowing all too well what blood meant. Dani swore, holding his arm and slid down the counter to the floor. I looked at Dani… then his arm. He wasn't bleeding horribly… but enough. And he looked like he was in pain. I looked at the infected… a body that should have been dead long ago but never found it's way through that last stretch of actually dying. It's stench was already starting to fill the room. I swallowed. My dad had told me a story… something that may save me and Dani now.

I moved fast, pulling a bottle of bleach from Dani's backpack. He pulled off his coat, and rolled his sleeve up. I tore a long strip of material from one of my coats, and then another smaller piece and folded it. I unscrewed the cap off the bottle, and looked at Dani. He saw the bleach and licked his lips, shifting.

"Whatever you do, don't make a sound…" I said. Dani looked at me, and hesitated before nodding. I pulled back the last sleeve, and raised the bottle. I saw Dani tense.

I pored a little across his arm, where the knife had gotten him. His arm flexed hard, and his eyes shut tight, face twisted in pain. His jaw clamped shut, fingers in a tight white knuckled fist. I poured a little more. I heard him groan deep in his chest, trying hard to surpress a yell. Finally I put the folded piece directly on the wound, and then used the longer piece to tie it to his arm, good and tight. I pulled his sleeve down, and helped him with his coat.

"We got to get to Circuit City…" He breathed as he dragged himself to his feet. I nodded, and then turned my head to the knife on the counter. I swallowed, and picked it up. Dani looked at me confused, until I looked over at the corpse on the floor. It took him a second to realize my intentions.

"Will it work?" he asked. I shrugged.

"I've never done it…" I said.

"What's to loose…" he muttered. I took a big breath and stepped towards the body. I set the blade against it's stomach, and let my breath out slowly. My hand was shaking. I didn't know if I could do it… but I had to.

I dug the knife deep into the skin, and pulled down across it's stomach. Fluid and guts gushed out onto the floor, it's stench making me gag. Eventually I pulled the knife out and dropped it on the floor. Dani and I covered our mouth and noses and quickly left.

"That stench should keep us covered for a while… especially if we left any blood in the house…" Dani said as we exited the house in a hasty fashion. I nodded.

Again we started on our way, avoiding houses altogether.

We got to circuit city a few hours after sun set. I was exhausted, and Dani had little use of his arm. But we had made it. Dani and I shut the door behind us, and I dumped the last of the bleach around the entrance. We shoved a shelf in front of the door, and slid down to sit.

"We should do this… every year…" I breathed.

"What do we need in here?" Dani asked.

"A certain wire" i answered.

"You look flushed..." Dani siad after a moment. I waved him off.

"No one's perfect." I siad, and started to push myself up to go look for the wire. Dani grabbed my arm and stood up faster.

"I got it. Just tell me what you're looking for..." He siad. I explained it as best detail as I could get... but explaining a WIRE? It wasn't exactly easy to narrow it down to what i wanted. But Dani wouldn't let me get up.

After i explained it to him, and he clarified a few points, he left. I was left alone, leaning against the shelf. It didn't take long before i checked my rounds, and pulled off my soaking jacket. I could tell the smell was wearing off fast, the water ruining a perfectly good mask. We had one more place to stop at... and it wasn't exactly necessary. Or was it? The room was more of a bomb shelter the older men in the family had built. It's where we stored a back up of food, ammo, tools, and anything else we might need. So far, we were good on ammo. We had only used one shot between the both of us. But what i really wanted, where the flat end guns that sat at the back, in a metal box. My family had accesses to all sorts of weapons... including tazers. What better object to use to take down the leeches back home? You wouldn't kill them... but it sure as heck wouldn't feel good. Besides... whatever food they had eaten needed to be replenished. I would take enough food and seeds to get us back on our feet again. But now i wasn't sure... the more canned foods and jars of foods we stacked, the heavier and slower we would be... and the taster we would smell.

My thoughts were interrupted, and I surfaced back to reality. What was that sound? I looked up... and saw an empty room. Dani wasn't to be seen. Then i heard it again. A weighted breath... a labored one. One that came from behind. I swallowed and flashed a look at my jacket... and then tried to focus on the draft. I couldn't feel one... the air was dead like everything else. But i could still feel that presence in the silent empty air... I looked around quickly and quietly, trying to avoid moving my head or body. I saw the computer screen used to check out customers... just as i heard a THUNK.

I turned my head ever so slowly to look directly at the computer screen. It had been smashed, and the jaged pieces lay everywhere on the counter and floor. But I could still make out a reflection. I could see a distorted me, laying stil and flat against the shelf, pushed up to the doors. BEyond the doors, though, i couldn't make out clear details... but i saw something was moving beyond the glass doors. I swallowed again. Crap.


	12. Can't catch a break

I looked long and hard at the reflection, trying to make out how many there were. THey were moving slow, and moaning every once in a while... they where sure if them smelt anything... but something had caught their attention. I could count one... two... three... at least four of them... moping around outside the door. I gripped my gun... any shot would gain attention so if i fired it would have to be accurate... and i would have to hope Dani found the wire by then. Unless they could be taken out by other means... i looked at the glass shards from the computer. Most of them were shattered clips and pieces that would do ME worse then then the infected. I saw a few shards that looked promising... but no bigger then my fist... and then i saw it... a shard of glass still on the counter. Large enough for me to grip it. I reached out and pulled it down. I pulled my sleeve down over my hand, and gripped the shard. I evened out my breathing... starting to feel my blood pump faster with anticipation. I doubted i would break into Hyper mode... but I could do damage without it. I just had to wait until...

A hand grabbed my shoulder. I spun around, powering the arm with the shard, going straight for where i estimated the throat to be... but a strong hand stopped it, grabbing just below my wrist. For a moment i was stunned, realizing someone with reflexes like that and strength like that... might not be so easy to beat. But i let out my breath in pure releif.

"Geeze!" Dani hissed. I jerked around, looking for the infected out the door. Each one lay still on the cement. Dani let go of my arm. "So you DID hear them..." he siad. I nodded. "Didn't know if you had..."

"How'd you..." I starred at him.

"We need to be quiet so..." he let it hang, "Found your wire..." he siad. He held up a box. A little shoaked at his speed I looked it over.

"Yep... this is it." I siad.

"Good then we can..." Dani was interrupted by a crash. Starteld we both jumped and looked out. THEY were flooding out of buildings. Coming from everywhere in groups of five and tens. Dani and I didn't hesitated. We pulled and fired, the glass shattered, and a few fell. I counted my shots... and Dani's. I would fire when he was reloading. But as soon as he was out, he grabbed my arm and took off. Before I knew it we were stuffed in a back room, and Dani threw down filing cabinets in front of it.

"Up!" he yelled. I looked over and found the roof laddar, and jumped on it. Just as I did, the door nearly came off it's hinges as the wave of infected it it. Dani was close behind me. I got to the top and found the latch door... with a padlock attatched. I looked down, and saw the hands and arms of hte infected hungrily pushing through the gap in the door. I pulled my gun.

"Hurry!" Dani yelled below me. I shot at the padlock... the sound splitting through my ear and head. I gasped, trying to shaking the sound... I pushed the latch again... still held tight.. I swore and fired agian, my head ringing, just as my vision caught the door collapsing, and infecting stumbling in. I shoved the door up agian and this time it gave in. I flung myself throuhg the opening Dani on my heels. I saw him drop somthing in his hand down, and slam the latch shut.

"Was that a gre..." i started.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM! Dani dropped next to me, covering my head and neck. The explosion blossomed from the latch shoot in fire and debri.

"That should take care fo them for a few mintues..." Dani siad... "And attract the infected for the next MILE! GEEZE! Dub siad that was half the powder!" We heard dying shrieks come from below.

"Run!" Dani shouted. We both jumped to our feet and took off. We jumped roofs, climbed laddars, dodged trashcans and vents. We couldn't make out much in the dark, but we could hear the garggels following us, just as fast if not faster then us.

"This way!" I made a turn, obscuring our straight path on the roofs, and headed east. Dani followed. I don't know how many we lost, but not enough to slow down. Eventually we got to downtown, and the roofs got higher and higher, until they were over six stories above us... which left us nowhere to run to. Infront of us, a tall skyscrayper, lined in glass windows and dead plant boxes, it's roof WAY out of reach... but we could still hear them behind us. Dani swore.

"How comfortable are you with heights?" i asked.

"I not afraid of HEIGHTS... i'm afraid of falling." Dani answered. I paused, realizing the genius behind his statement, and then backed up a few strides, pulling my collar close around my neck. "What are you..." He started. But i took off, powering my legs as fast as i could, and then ejected off the roof of the building. I covered my face as i crashed through the window, and rolled to a stop... luckily I stood up with only a few scrapes, barley deep enough to bleed. I dusted myself off.

"YOU ARE CRAZY!" Dani yelled from outside. I went back to the window.

"And unless you jump... you're DEAD!" i yelled back. I saw Dani suddenly jerk, swinging his entire body around, flinging his arm at me. At first i thought there was something wrong... and then i realized he had thrown something... his knife. Straight at me.

Reflexes pulled my head away in just enough time as the knife whizzed past my head. I thought of some colorful words to shout... but i heard the knife THUNK against something and a choked gargle. I spun around and found a lone infected just as he fell to the ground, the knife hilt deep right between the eyes. I starred at it long and hard, both horrified and amazed. I had not seen or heard it come up. If Dani hadn't been there...

Just then Dani tumbled into the room, rolling across the glass, and into the wall.

"Smooth landing..." I siad. Dani stood up and dusted himself off.

"You're welcome..." he muttered.

"You could have killed me..."

"I never miss.."

"Thought you said you were better with a gun."

"I am." Dani pulled the knife out, and wiped it clean on his pants before putting it away. "Think they'll follow?"

"No... we lost most of them..." I siad. I felt the power of adrenaline start to fade, leaving me weak. Both Dani and I were breathing hard.

"Where to next?" Dani asked.

"Now we go two buildings over, there's a bank... we go down the elevator shaft to my families storage. There we pick up ammo, food, some bleach and what not. Then we head back."

"You're family has a storage in the CITY?" Dani asked. I nodded.

"We needed somewhere safe where people wouldn't LEECH off it." i murmmered.

"You don't look to good..." Dani siad.

"You're not suppose to say that to girls..." i siad, realizing my hand was on the wall to steady myself.

"No I mean all the color in your face is gone..." he said.

"Ya... forgot to put on makeup this morning..." I tried to make light of the situation.

"You should sit down... i'll clear the halls..." he siad, changing his clip in his gun. Again Dani left, peeking left and right out the door before leaving. I did the same, changing out the clip, and relaoded. I did NOT feel good. But we were almost done... we were almost finished and then we could head back.

I had barely finished reloading, before Dani ran back into the room.

"Time to go!" he said. I was up and we ran out the door before i heard another gargeled scream.


	13. Stepup

We exited the bank quietly looking up and down the empty streets. We couldn't see further then a few blocks, which made me stare long and hard at the dark waiting to catch movement. The air was heavy in a stench that we both new well, and every breath reminded us they were close... they were everywhere. I glanced at the bank sign ahead... we were so close it scared me... like i knew something HAD to happen before we made it there. Dani was still bleeding and I was out of energy. My mind flashed to different scenes were i passed out at the worse possible moment. Then suddenly i was picturing a face: my father's. But barely recognizable. I shook it out of my head before i could picture details... i knew he was following us... i knew he had made it out of the river and found our trail again. He was probably watching us right now. Unlike all the other infected Carper lood was still somewhat intact. It was never completely destroyed. Carper blood still kept sense... the ability to plan and make smart moves. A carper infected was the most dangerous infected their was... and there was one out there somewhere. I hated to admit it... but the situation i was in now allowed me to say we had been lucky that the other Carpers weren't just bitten... but finished off. If they had all survived we wouldn't have even made it into the city.

"Do..." Dani started to hiss... but i had already seen him and ducked behind a a cereal advertisement. Dani disappeared behind a mail box. I couldn't see him clearly... but i could barely make out the shoulder of one of them just around the corner ahead of us... just our luck: in our way. Dani leaned out so I could see him, and pointed at the roofs and mouthed 'go up..."

Crap... i thought. The roofs were hard enough but they would wipe me out for sure now. But the infected stepped around the corner and gargled. We both ducked back behind cover and held our breath hoping it hand't heard or seen us... but I could hear it... it was dragging a foot. It was coming our way.

I looked over at Dani... I still couldn't see him. I swallowed. If we had to run again... it would put me out. I was barely able to quite my breath. Muscles were aching, my stomach so tight I thought it would revolt. Each breath put my chest in a tightening pain... my blood pumping hot like it was still pumping infected blood. My eyes were burning now. The back of my throat stung. I wouldn't last another run for sure.

Dani's POV

My shoulder was aching more and more. Every movement hurt. But I would live... at least from bleeding. I knew it was bad news for both of us. The smell would attract infected for blocks around if they caught sent. It was putting both of us in danger. I was about to ask Vera if they had any medical supplies at her safe-house, when I caught movement.

"Down!" i started to say, but Vera was already ducked behind cover. I dove for cover myself, instantly regretting it. I landed on my shoulder and stifled a yell. I held my breath, waiting to see if it had heard us. Nothing. But it would smell us soon. It was dangerously close and one yell from it would alert others. There was always more. We had to gain ground between us fast. I looked at the roofs we could take them at least two buildings over, climb down cross the street and be at the bank... i leaned out to catch Vera's gaze. I pointed and mouthed. I saw the pained expression on her face and suddenly i realized she was deathly pale, her lips almost white. If it hadn't been for her bright green eyes i would have mistook her for an infected. She's still sick I thought... and now it was bad. Why didn't she say anything! She looked like she would pass out any second. Alex had told me she would do this... told me she would push herself. She was a strong girl... and I knew she would push herself to the end if you let her. Alex had always been there to tell her to quit it... slow down. He was her brother... of course she listened. Knowing Vera though, it wasn't without arguing first. But Alex probably knew how to deal with her temper as well as her stubbornness. But now Alex trusted me... Vera trusted me. SHe had begun to follow me and listen. I talked, she listened. She no longer had such a hostile view of me. I peeked at her again... she was breathing hard. I had to get her out of her. I had to. Me. Not Alex or her... I would do it.

Just then a gargle sound made me jump. I needed to move fast... and Vera couldn't move fast. So it was all me. Or so I thought. The infected suddenly stepped around my cover and was starring directly at me. I saw it's yellow eyes brighten with a bloodthirsty glare. It descended on me and i knew i was dead no time to get to my gun or knife...

WHAM!

The cereal advertisement Vera had been ducking behind crashed over it's head, locking it's arms to it's side. Then a metal pole crashed across it's head. There was a loud CRACK before it fell, breaking the advertisement further. Vera stood over it the metal pole in hand. She starred at it waiting for it to move again, pole raised over her head. WHen it didn't move, she dropped the pole with a clatter, and leaned heavily on the wall.

"I need a knife..." she muttered. I glanced at the corpse to be sure and then went over to her, "We're suppose to be the calvary for Alex... and look at us." i realized now why she pushed herself so hard. To get back to her brother. She needed to be with him... to not let him down. How horrible she must of felt to be loosing this fight. She must of felt like she was letting her brother down. Alex was sure a lucky brother.

"Two more blocks..." i siad. I grabbed her arm.

"What are you doing?" she breathed. I draped her arm around my neck and pulled her up.

"I'm getting us out of here... no man left behind." i siad with a smile.

"Sexist..." she muttered back. She was fading. So i moved faster.


	14. Bank Doors

I had just gotten to the banks door, when I suddenly realized Vera hadn't spoken a word. She was leaning heavily on me, my grip on her arm around my neck slipping.

"Vera…" I said.

"What…" She breathed.

"Almost there."

"Perfect."

I tried the door… locked.

"Who had time to lock the door behind them…" I muttered.

"The key is right there…" Vera pointed a shaky finger. There was a nail that had roughly been pounded into the wall… and on it a key.

"How convenient." I said. I set Vera down gently. And grabbed the key. I shoved it in the lock… and the key snapped off. "We can't seem to catch a break!" I cursed, "Is there another way in?" I looked down at Vera. She looked up at me.

"Ya…" she looked at me and I waited for her to answer.

"What?" I asked after a long moment of silence. She raised her gun and shot the door handle off.

"Does that work?" she asked. I couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or if she was loopy. But just as she said it, the screams started down the street. I snapped around, gun raised.

I saw two heads pop up just over a Honda Accord. I shot them both before they could get over the hood. Then three more down the street. I emptied my clip on them and they fell just more came around the corner. I looked at Vera… she looked passed out.

I kicked the door down.

"Vera! Stay with me!" I grabbed her, my shoulder straining, bloody oozing down my arm.

I threw down whatever I could find in front of the door and picked Vera up again.

"Vera which way?"

"Straight…" She rasped. I was practically dragging her now.

"Come on… on your feet!" I said as I took the hall behind the counter.

"No…" Vera was trying to keep up…

I took a left just as I heard a crash from the lobby.

"We need… to get to the elevators…" she rasped. I shook my head. The elevators were back in the lobby. "Stairs…"

"This way…" I heard another crash. We stumbled through the door labeled stairs, my blood visibly smearing across it.

"Dani…" Vera breathed… "Dani somethings wrong…" 

"Just stay with me Vera…" We hustled up the stairs, tripping to many times. I pushed the pain out of my head… I had to get us out of here. I had to.

We got to the second floor. I could hear them screaming behind us… following the scent of blood. I made my way as fast as I could down the hall to the elevators.

"Vera which one?" I asked her. There were three…

Suddenly Vera got sick, her stomach revolting on the floor. My own stomach squirmed.

"Vera?" She didn't answer. I looked at her… she had passed out. I swore again.

HURRRROOOOAAAAAAAAARRRR! I could hear the swarm of infected coming after us. My eyes could easily follow the blood trail. I looked at the elevators, wiping away the sweat from my eyes.

There.

At the end of the hall was a container…. A clear container marked with a marker: Bleach.

Instantly a plan formed in my head. I set Vera down, taking her gun and reloading my own. I bolted down the hall grabbing the bleach.

AAAAhhhRRRRRRKKKKK!

A rotting face came out of one of the offices and jumped at me, her claws slashing. I fell back landing on my bad arm, and kicked the infected into the wall hard. The infected, growled catching sight of Vera… lying motionless on the floor.

I emptied a full clip.

I slashed the stomach, adding to the stench already in the air. I ran back for Vera, and dragged her over to the nearest elevator. I pried the door open and looked down. The elevator's roof was a few feet below. I held the door open with a broken broom handle and lowered Vera down, before jumping back up to the floor. I poured the bleach all around the elevator, saving the last cupful and dumped it on my arm. I didn't have to suppress a yell now. I screamed. It burned my entire arm, the watery blood flowing down my arm. I sloshed the bleach around with my foot, just as I heard the infected stumble through the stairs door. I dove just as I caught a glimpse of movement in the hall. I slid across the bleach through the elevator doors, and dropped the few feet landing hard. I rolled to my back, pulling my gun and fired once. The broom handle snapped in two and the elevator doors snapped shut, enclosing us in darkness.

I heard the infected swarm outside. Their screams and yells… even the gnawing and bone breaking. The screams ceased as their meal preoccupied them.

I was bruised all over… sweaty, bloody, and sore. I lay motionless in the darkness for a moment trying to catch my breath. I listened for Vera but she didn't move. By the time I caught my breath and sounds of the infected had ceased to gargles and… munching. I hadn't heard anything against our elevator door so I figured my plan was working… for now.

I crawled through the darkness toward the direction of Vera.

"Vera…" I whispered. Nothing. I licked my lips moving forward again. Finally my fingers brushed against something hot… burning hot. Her hand. I grabbed her hand and propped her up against the wall. I searched through both our bags and snapped the glow sticks I had found. Vera was deathly pale in the green light, her lips almost white. Around her eyes… was dark.

"Geeze…" I dug through the backpacks again and found bottled water, "Vera… Vera…" I shook her awake. She barley opened her eyes.

She moaned.

"My head…" she said.

"Drink." I ordered. Her hand moved to the bottle but suddenly her whole body jerked violently and shut curled up hugging her knees to her chest, face twisted in pain. I waited until she fell back against the wall and held the bottle up to her lips. She drank greedily and swallowed.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"The top of the elevator. Between the second and first floor." I said. She looked at the elevator doors slightly above our heads. She heard the sounds outside… smelt the bleach.

"Smart thinking…" she said. I had to smile.

"You know Alex is going to kill me if you don't show up at the castle in the next 8 hours." I said. She said nothing. I saw her look… she didn't think we would make it out of here. I licked my lips.

"Well…" I continued at a low voice. "You owe my team and I a good meal when we get back." I moved around and sat next to her. She was silent.

"I was thinking…" She finally said, "I was thinking that you guys… that you could stay… if you wanted. At the castle." I stopped and looked at her. Through the dim light her half closed eyes were clouded.

"Ya…" I said… "Ya I'd like that."

She looked at me… and then back at the wall.

She leaned over towards me and put her head on my shoulder. My cheeks got hot. "Me too."


	15. Bank Elevator

I don't know how long it took them to finish off their meal. But the sounds got more and more quiet. Less and less bone breaking and snarling. Vera was in and out the whole time. She wouldn't let go of my hand.

My arm…was killing me. The blood has soaked through the wrap and jacket, but had dried out. The tie was tight and stopped the bleeding but a gash in your arm was nothing to ignore. I began to wonder if we'd make it out of here…

I looked at Vera.

We would make it out. We had to.

Vera was out for a good two hours after silence fell outside. I listened hard but heard nothing: they must be gone. I let her sleep as long as I dared. We were past our time for arrival back at the castle. The boys must be starting to think the worst has happened.

What would we do after?

The thought came from nowhere. It just flew through my head and hit like a ton of bricks and I wanted it. I wanted it so bad I felt like I would do anything to get it. I would stay with Vera. No matter what. We would get through this and get back to the castle, kick Adam and his stupid gang out and reinforce the castle walls. Done.

I took a deep breath.

"Vera…" I shook her gently and her head rolled off my shoulder. She took in a sharp breath. "We gotta get moving."

"How long we been down here?" She asked.

"Three hours maybe…" I said. She swore…

"My brother is going to kill us…" she breathed. I had to smile. I pulled myself forward, grinding my teeth as I pulled at my arm. It was pitch black and neither of us could see a thing. The glow sticks had faded but Vera was digging through her pack slowly.

"You're not doing so well…" I said to the dark. The sounds of her moving around stopped. I heard her labored breathing.

"I know." She said.

"Why don't I get the rest of the stuff. You wait here…"

"No." she said quickly, "We go together."

"Vera you can hardly walk."

"I'm fine. You don't even know where you're going."

"You can tell me. We only need one person to carry the supplies."

"We go together Dani." She said harshly. "End of discussion."

"Vera…"

"Dani… don't push it." I couldn't see her voice… but I heard it in her voice. The softness in her voice was gone. The uncertainty of how she felt about me returned, as a hostility settled in her voice. So I dished it back.

"Vera. You're staying here. You'll slow me down anyway. We'll get out of here faster if I go by myself and just come back. You can rest until then for the trip back…"

"No." she said.

"Vera!" I hissed, "Stop being so stubborn!"

"Look, you're good… but not that good. You can't go out there by yourself you'll get killed! And this whole thing will be for nothing! Not to mention your buddies would kill me!"

"Vera you're staying here. Your brother told me to…"

"My brother isn't here! I'm coming with!" She tried to stand up.

"No you are not." I said, feeling my muscles tense. "You are staying here."

"You can't order me around…"

"You'll get us both killed…"

"Will not!"

"Sit your ass down… you're STAYING."

"I'M GOING!" she hissed.

"Why won't you just listen!"

"Why won't you just let me come!"

"Because you need to rest!"

"I told you I'm fine!"

"Why won't you just stay here!"

"Because you won't come back!"

"I won't…" I stopped. I heard slump to the floor again.

"Of course I'll come back…" I said, still unsure if I should approach her.

"But what if you don't?" she breathing, her voice shaking. "What if you get killed and I'm sitting here waiting for you to come back and you don't. What if I get left here… Dani I have to come with you. I have to. Last time they left me they never came back."

"They?" I stepped towards her, hearing her voice shake. I wanted to warp my arms around her and be near her.

"They left me… and they never came back." She said, "They all left."

"Vera?" I crouched down, starring into the dark, looking for her dark outline.

"That night… we went into the city to drop off supplies like we do every year. We bring in new supplies and take out the old to use. It was my first time to the city… I was finally old enough to go with them. We had two vehicles. My dad and I were in the second vehicle and Alex and the rest were in the first. I was in the far back seat. I saw Alex's car swerve. We collided and fell over the side of the bridge into the creek below. Alex's car went under… while we had hit the shore and were only half way under water. I was pinned between seats and couldn't move… everyone was unconscious or dead… but the infected swarmed in. A twelve year old shouldn't have to see her own father…" she sputtered, choking on tears, "I was screaming and everyone had gotten out of the water safely and heard me. They all went into hyper mode and got me out. We hid in the city. My family hid Alex and I and told us to stay there. I don't know how long we waited… but they never came back. Alex got worried and told me to stay put. He went to go find them. I sat there for days. Maybe three or four… by myself. Alex never came back. I was twelve… but I had to grow up that day. I had to be strong… I had to be a Carper. So I got up and left. I was on my way out of the city and found Alex and my grandfather. My grandfather had been bitten. We knew he wouldn't turn but he said this time it was different. That we had to leave him. I got angry. A swarm came at us from behind and I went into hyper mode for the first time. I killed them all. Alex pulled me out of the city barely able to pull me out of hyper mode… we got back to the castle… hoping others had survived… but it was just us."

Her story ended and all I could do was breath. I tried to think of words to say to her… but what do you say to that? What do you say to a scarred twelve year old who just watched her father get ripped apart while pinned between seats awaiting the same fate?

"Vera…" I whispered barely audible…

"I have to be a Carper…" she said, "I have to be strong . I have to fight this. I can't let them down… and I can't be left behind." I swallowed, realizing the weight of the situation. It was more then surviving… it was a metal stability. It was winning. For her it was simply about winning.

"We better keep moving…" I said. Vera didn't answer. I heard her shuffle through a bag and then something clicked. Vera had found a flashlight and clicked it on, illuminating the small space around us. She stood up on shaking legs. I stood up and went for the elevator doors. The floor came level to my chest, so I didn't have much leverage with my arms. I had only just gotten a good grip when I felt a hot hand on my arm.

"Don't." she said. I looked back and she had a dark look in her eyes.

"Why not?"

"He's waiting out there…" was all she said.

"Who?"

"… My grandfather." She said. She pulled a latch on the floor revealing the entrance into the elevator. She dropped her bag down.

"We get to the first floor, then drop down the gab below the elevator to the basement." She said. I dropped my bag down, before jumping down myself. I landed on carpet. The light from Vera's light shone above. I saw her hang her feet, and drop down… heavy on her feet. She collapsed to the floor but got right back up. The elevator doors now posed a problem… we had two doors to pry open and hold open as we went through. I went over to the doors and braced myself.

I pulled as hard as I could, straining my muscles. I felt the blood pump from my arm down my back. Vera came over and tried to help but it didn't budge.

"Perfect…" I muttered. Vera swept the flashlight over to the panel. She pointed to it.

"Get it open." She said. I pulled my knife and unscrewed the panel revealing a random pattern of colored wires. Vera pulled her own knife and set to work. She cut one… two… three wires and then began to strip the ends. She hit them together making sparks. Finally the doors pulled open by themselves and I quickly placed myself between them. The second set of doors only came above the floor two feet or so. Vera came over and took my place, sitting on the ground and setting a foot across the entrance to keep the doors open. She sheathed her knife and pulled her gun. I set my hands and looked at her. She nodded. With a good heave the doors came open and Vera swung her gun to the opening. Light flooded in, blinding both of us but Vera's gun didn't waver. Our eyes adjusted and we found ourselves looking at the lobby again… and empty lobby.

I gave a nod to Vera and hold the doors while she laid down on her stomach and slid through the gap. She swept the room before I heard a whistle and followed after her.


	16. Storage Room: Carper style

We repeated the process again, only this time dropping to the basement. Again it was pitch black but Vera took her flashlight and moved purposefully away from me. I followed her and found her light cast on a large lever on a wall. She flipped it up and the walls around us hummed to life, lights flipping on revealing a long dark damp hallway full of pipes.

"We're further down." She said. We walked down the hall, Vera in the lead. I was about to ask her how she was feeling when we stopped at a door.

"Um… you might want to step back…" she said. I did so and she wearily began to run her fingers along the bricks next to the doors.

"What are you doing?"

"We booby trapped the door… I'm going to turn them off…"

"Behind a brick?"

"I've never done this before…" she said, her fingers suddenly pulling out a brick and revealing four sets of wires. "See those pipes?" she pointed up and I followed her finger to four large pipes directly overhead, their openings pointed at us allowing us to see up into them. "Watch them."

"What am I watching for?"

"If I get this wrong… you'll see them light up inside."

"Light up?"

"If you catch it in time maybe we can get out of the way."

"Out of the way? Of what?"

"First pipe will spill gasoline on us… second pipe is acid… I think… third is fire…"

"And the forth?" I asked. She shrugged.

"It won't matter." She muttered. She turned to the wires again and I took another step back. Vera cut one… and the door clicked. She gave me a weary smile.

"The forth drops a bomb…" she said, and pushed the door open. I hesitated but followed after her. She flipped the lights on.

"Holy…" My jaw dropped as the lights came on revealing more and more of the room that seemed to span further that I assumed. The walls were lined in racks of guns of all sizes and sorts, drawers labeled neatly as to what ammo they held. The racks lined the walls and the hall leading down to a door with the word "FOOD" written across it. The rest of the room was full of shelving units of first aid, rope, bleach, books on medical knowledge, agriculture, and medieval defense tactics. Random supplies like pillows and blankets, lanterns, dish soap, oil, tools, blocks of metal, matches, anything you could possibly need.

"Dani…" Vera called me over to some pipe works over on the far end. She twisted the knob and water began to flow out. We filled out bottles, and washed what blood off we could. Vera found us new clothes, ones that weren't blood stained and we took the time to correctly wrap our wounds. Vera wrapped my arm professionally and tapped it off. She didn't waste a second before she began to pack more supplies.

"This place is crazy…" I said.

"We were prepared." She said, "And we knew what we were doing. Look for the gardening section. Grab some seeds. We'll have to replant the garden. And look for batteries. And take some ammo…" I did so finding all sorts of things among the shelves.

"This feels like I walked into the matrix… you know. All those shelves show up with everything you need…" I heard Vera scoff.

"Only more variety…" she said. I nodded, "Keep count of what you use… we'll have to re-stock whatever we take." I nodded.

Vera counted what we packed and wrote it down in a book on one of the tables. She then went over to a bookshelf. She pulled at it and it rolled away revealing another door. She pulled the key from under a desk and unlocked it. Inside was more shelves full of rolled paper, and more books.

Vera pulled out one of the rolls and laid it out on the table. It looked like a blueprint of the castle… and as I realized what I was looking at a felt a spark of hope light up inside me.

"Can you build this?" I asked.

"Don't have to. It's already built." She said, "It was just never finished. I have to finish wiring it. This will keep them off the walls for sure."

"This is perfect." I said. Vera stuffed the blueprint in her bag and threw it across her shoulder.

"We're taking automatics this time." She said.

"No dilly dallying."

"We get back to the castle."

"Take out the trash…"

"And set the castle's defense system up."

"Right…"

There was a gargled scream and the color left Vera's face.

"They're in the basement…" she breathed.


	17. Hyper Mode

We both looked at the door to the supply room. The door was cracked but we could hear them.

"Grab the guns…" she said. I ran down to the racks and packed what I could, loading the empty guns and packing more ammo. Vera was doing the same, tacking on a few grenades.

"Can we hold them if we stay here?" I asked, partly because I didn't want to go out there… the guns looked so powerful…

"No… they'll set off the booby traps and the forth pipe with drop the bomb… it'll destroy the entire basement."

"Are you SERIOUS?!" I shouted. She gave me a look, and snapped a clip into a semi automatic.

"Come on." She said. We ran out to the door. Vera locked it shut and set the brick back into place. I could hear the cashing and gargled screams coming down the hall.

"Is there another way out?"

"This way!" She said. We ran. We ran in the opposite direction we had come. But they were gaining… the sounds was getting louder and loud until we had to shout.

"Here!" Vera slammed into a door that looked like it belong to a safe. Big metal door… that unfortunately was locked. Vera and I both swore, glancing down the tunnel.

"Up here!" Vera suddenly leapt into the air landing on the wall, and then sprung off it gripping the ledge of a shaft. She pulled herself up and then peeked over. "Hurry!' I threw my bag and my gun up. Vera pulled a rifle around her shoulder and let off a few rounds down the hallway, telling me they were at a uncomfortably close distance. I jumped and grabbed a pipe, and pulled myself up. I stood up, balancing and jumped to the ledge she was shooting from. I rolled into the wall, safely landing on the ledge.

"go go go!" she shouted. We crawled along the ledge until we reached the vents. I kicked the grate in motioning for Vera to go through first. She dove in as I spun and let loose a rapid fire. I saw the infected drop.

"Keep going!" I shouted, diving in after her. "Faster!" I heard the infected get closer. Were they in the shafts?

"AHH!" Vera screamed as the shaft under her gave way and she dropped out of sight.

"Vera!" I peeked over the edge. I saw Vera on the floor of the room below in the center of a cloud of dust. "Vera?! Vera can you hear me?!" I heard her groan. "Don't move, I'm coming down to you." I slid my feet around and dropped down next to her. She was curled up on the floor, swearing left and right.

"Anything broken?" I asked.

"Everything…" she rasped, "my wrist…" She tried to sit up and I helped her. She cradled her hand.

"We lived through everything so far…" I said.

_Gaahahaaaa!_

We both snapped our heads around. The door to the empty room was getting pounded on and would only last a few minutes.

"You were saying?" she muttered. I looked back up at the shaft. To high. I looked around the room. There was a door but nothing to climb to get to the shafts. I ran over to the door praying it wasn't locked. It was metal so I wouldn't be able to shoot through it if it was… unlocked!

Piperoom? A dead end. I swore.

"Vera we gotta get back up into the…" I started, but stopped. Vera was standing. She was on two feet, loading a gun, facing the door that was starting to come apart.

"Vera?" I started for her but she turned around and my blood went cold. Her eyes seemed sunken in, dark and red. Her skin had lost all color, but even from where I stood I could feel something… something familiar. She was going into hyper mode. I felt fear settle into my veins, a cold hand around my chest. We were trapped with no way out and she was sliding into the fight or flight mode and flight wasn't in Carper's blood. I remembered what her brother had told me… just before I headed up the stairs. _Carper's blood is immune to the infection… but hyper mode takes that advantage away._ At the time, I just blew it off. Ok I got it, don't let her go into hyper mode. But it was much more than that. If Vera went into hyper mode now, I would loose her. I didn't know if she was still fighting off the bad blood in her veins from her first bite. But she was weak and battered now and if she slipped into Hyper mode in that state… than my grave would be this room right here. If she got bitten in hyper mode, she wouldn't become just infected… she would just loose the knowledge of knowing the difference of humans and zombie… and kill them all.

"Vera?" I said carefully. I took a step forward. She kicked her backpack at me. I flinched, my hand twitching on my gun. _I don't care if you knock her out or lock her up…_ I knew Alex was being literal.

"Take them. Get them back to my brother." She said. My throat closed on me. I couldn't breathe… couldn't speak.

"We can make it to the vents Vera…" I said.

"Dani…" she said, locking her gun, "Don't make me tell you twice." I could see it in her eyes… she would point her gun at me… what was she planning to do? I had to do something. I had to replace the fight or flight with something else. Pain, surprise, anger… anything. Anything to get her focus off of our dire situation. A rock settled in my stomach as I raised my gun…

"Come on…" she said and opened the pipe room door again, "we'll hold them off in here…" I hesitated, not sure what she was getting at, "Or maybe we can climb the pipes to another shaft…" she said. I nodded, but still didn't move.

The screams from the front door were pushing me to make a decision. Stay out here and ward off the infected? Or get locked in a small room with Vera on Hyper mode?

"Vera… you need to calm down. You're slipping." Was all I could do.

"Dani! Get in here!" She yelled. I looked once more at the door being torn down and then followed her past the door.

Suddenly, Vera's hand was behind my neck. She shoved me hard forward and I stumbled trying to catch myself. I heard the clang of the door closing before I hit the ground.

"VERA! NO!" I jumped on my feet, vainly going for the handle. I heard gunshots. "Vera! Stay out of that hyper mode! Stay out of it! Think of your family! Think of your brother! He needs you!" The shots continued, along with the screams and gargles. I took the butt of my gun and started to slam it into the door handle… but it didn't work.

"Vera! Do you hear me! Open this door!" but over the gunshots and yells I could barely hear myself. I slung the gun across my shoulder and began to climb the pipes. I scanned the walls and the ceiling for any kind of vents… there! I jumped, clambering up pipes, and kicked in the grate, crawling through the vents once again.

The gunshots had stopped but I heard Vera yelling, cursing. No ammo did not mean the end of the fight for her. I had to get to her… I had to get to her and stop her. I crawled as fast as I could through the vents looking for a way out looking for a flood of light to fill the dark space. I was crawling in dirt and grunge but at the moment I didn't care. Vera was the only thing I could think about. It didn't take long before I kicked out another grate, now starring at bare tunnel we had first come in. I saw infected go for the door a few yards away, and I pulled my gun around and fired from my back in the shaft. They dropped before they got through the door, joining a few more motionless bodies that marked which door I wanted.

"Vera!" I jumped down, landing badly on my ankle, but I knew I had run on worse. I kept my gun up as I went down the tunnel to the door that had been torn apart. Infected bodies lay motion less outside the door, and leading in. I threw myself against the wall, brought my gun up and spun around. Inside lay ten, twelve motionless infected, a handful more outside where I was standing. Vera was standing down two more infected who had been standing still, hissing at her. She had a knife in one hand, and a crow bar in the other, her gun on the floor on the other side of the room. Her back was towards me.

"Vera, get out of the way!" I yelled, aiming my gun. Vera didn't move. "Vera! Get down!" But she didn't move. The infected hissed, and charged, throwing their limp bodies as her.

Vera swung upwards was the crowbar, catching one in the jaw. She leapt in the air and kneed the second one, both of them stumbling back. Vera flung the crowbar back, the hook catching the first one around the neck. She jerked him hard forward, running her knee deep into it's stomach. From across the room I heard a round of cracks and a gargled scream followed. Cracked ribs meant nothing to an infected that was about to eat. The second one grabbed a fist full of her hair from behind, and I fired. It dropped, and Vera sunk her knife deep into the seconds shoulder. Again his hissed and screamed, pulling away but only for a second. It jumped for Vera knocking them both down. The infected scrambled on top of her, snapping it's jaw open and shut, as if eating the air. Vera had her hands across his throat, holding him off.

I ran forward and jumped, latching onto it's back, and used my momentum to rip him off of Vera and thrown him into the wall. More sickening cracks. The infected collapsed to the floor still snarling. He looked up and locked eyes with me. He opened his mouth to let out a yell, but we never heard it. He got a chunk of lead down his throat before the room fell silent. I turned to Vera who was trying to stand up.

"Vera!" I hissed and ran over to her. She propped herself up on the wall, gripping her knife. I knelt down beside her and pried her fingers away from the knife. "Vera concentrate, come on, breath." I told her.

"Get out…" She hissed, "Get out, while… you can!" I reached for her but she slapped my hand away, "Idiot!" I could see a strength returning to her… I could see her eyes illuminating. I was loosing her. I knew once she was in hyper mode… only Alex could pull her out… I had to stop it.

"Vera!" I snapped. I saw her hand go for her gun. I grabbed her hand and bent her writs backwards… her bad wrist. The one she fell on. I held it as long as I could, let her scream for as long as I bared and then let go, jumping back to my feet and aiming my gun at her. She cradled her arm.

"Son of a…!" she yelled. I waited for her to gain her breath, every second more tense than the one before it. My aim becoming tighter and tighter around the trigger… "Thank you…" she said quietly.

"You alright?" I asked, gun still raised.

"I… I don't think this is working…" she said.

"What?" I looked over my sights, now focusing on her instead of my aim. She looked up, and I saw her eyes had softened. The color had returned to her face… the adrenaline rush has cured her blood for good. I could see any trace of infecting had left. Now it was simply exhaustion and broken bones.

"This… this isn't working. We won't make it back at this rate. I'll… I'll kill you before we do." I lowered my gun.

"Um… no." I said, "I may look easy to kill but I'm not exactly a quitter…" I tired… but I didn't get a smile.

"You have to take my bag… get it to Alex…"

"I thought that was the plan all along…" I said.

"You need to leave… now. Leave me…"

"Um… ya… awful plan." I said. I went over to her and pulled her to her feet. "We're extremely stealth if we've made it this far. But now we're slow and bloody. I saw we change tactics."

"Dani you have to…" she started. I looked at her.

"You ever read the Bible?" I asked. She stopped, startled.

"What?"

"Particularly the Noah's ark story." I said.

"Dani…"

"See God said he would flood the world, to punish the people. But there was a good guy still left. Noah. He built an ark and the animals came, two by two. The flood came and Noah's ark saved them."

"Dani. Can you just…"

"There's a time in our paintball tournaments where there literally is no way into their flag because they got all points covered. You can't sneak your way in cause there's no cover. You can't send your best man in cause he's outnumbered even with the team covering him."

"will you please stop…"

"Operation Two by Two. No more stealth. You flood the sons of bitches." She looked at me, finally understanding. I wondered if she would agree, or still fight for her plan. Her plan meant giving up so…

"I'll get the backpack." She said. I smiled.


	18. Trip Outta' Town

Vera's POV

My blood was hot. Parts of me were warm and wet with blood. Bones ached and my stomach was so tight it felt like it was shrinking inside of me. I looked at the backpack. It held the supplies my brother needed to burn out the leeches… and to enforce the castle. It held the key for his survival. But they wouldn't make it to him. We had gotten so far but we couldn't do it. Or at least I couldn't. I was moving to fast… i wasn't resting. I wasn't giving my body enough time to cure itself from the last bite. I could feel it in my blood… my veins, tearing muscles down. It felt think and painful. The more blood I pumped from running and adrenaline the thicker it seemed to get. I knew I was losing this fight. I knew I would lose. I would have to trust a stranger to save my brother. I looked at Dani. I had only met him three days ago and he had been a stranger then. Was he a stranger now? He had caught a glimpse of hyper mode. He was afraid of it… afraid of me. i could see it in his eyes. But he did not run. I had locked him in the pipe room for his own good… to save him from the infected and save him from me. But he had fought back and suddenly appeared in the doorway of the room. I was slipping and I knew that he could tell by the way he gripped his gun, and watched my every movement. Bu he did not run. I had felt the cold hand around my heart I lost the strength to fight off the thought of killing him. It grew in my mind and I saw my hand go for my gun, deciding to go for the head. But he did not leave me. I remember pain and suddenly my vision sharpened. Dani was on his feet his rifle to his shoulder as he aimed at him. He didn't leave… he waited.

And then I told him. I told him I wouldn't make it. I told him what I myself didn't want to believe. I told him he had to go on without me. He had to leave if he wanted to live. He had refused. He pulled me to my feet, daring to touch me. Did he not know I could kill him? That at any moment I could give into the death that haunted my blood and sink my teeth or nails into his flesh?

He told me had had a plan. Operation Two by Two. Which consisted of ditching any stealth I had left in me. It was go big or go home. But I didn't have the energy. I wanted to tell him that. I wanted to tell him that I didn't think I could do it. I knew my limits… they were high. I could push myself to 150% if i wanted. I could take care of myself. But as of right now… the gas tank was empty. I had nothing left to run on. I had to convince him that he had to leave.

And that's when I had intended to do. I looked at him as he waited for my answer. His eyes were bright and hopeful, looking into mine. I saw the fear in his eyes again. Suddenly I realized, it was not the fear I had originally thought it was. He wasn't afraid of me. He was afraid of loosing me. That fear that swam in his eyes that I would refuse his offer… that I would give up.

At that point, I'm not sure what had happened. I was still trying to retain the fact that I had agreed. It was all very hazy. I could feel the energy begin to restore itself. I could feel my body healing. By the time my brain focused enough, we were outside the bank. I could still taste blood in my mouth, and my lungs still ached. I realized I was being led by the hand towards a large dumpster truck.

Dani let go of my hand, and checked the truck while I watched the streets.

"Vera…" Dani called my name for the third time. I looked back at him, dragging my eyes away from the empty streets. He was holding the passenger door open.

"THIS is your idea of Noah's ark?" I said. Dani hesitated, only momentarily confused. And then he smiled.

"If you want luxury…" he started. I glanced one more time at the streets and headed for the truck. I put a firm foot up and pulled myself up, my head suddenly going light. I fell backwards onto my feet again, knocking into Dani. I heard him gasp as I bumped his bad arm.

"Sorry." I siad, putting a hand to my head, "Ok?"

"Man you owe me some seriously delicious chili after this…" he said. "I don't think I can drive.." I looked at his hand. it was barley able to grip the pistol. I nodded and climbed into the driver seat.

"Can you drive stick?" He asked me.

"I think so…" I said, "Keys?" I ran my hands across the visor and along the seat.

"What you can't hot-wire it?" Dani teased. I squinted accusingly at him. "Scoot." Dani went down towards my legs and pulled the dash cover off. I climbed back out of the way as he pulled the wires down.

"You can hot-wire?" i asked.

"How do you think we got the jeep?" he said. Suddenly the truck roared to life. "We're good!" Dani sat back up. I set it into gear and hit the gas.

It wasn't long before i could hear the gargled screams. I glanced in the side mirror.

"Ever get that feeling your being followed?" I said.

"Ya when you're…" Dani looked back, "Oh… we've got fans." Dani pulled out another grenade, but I stopped him.

"Save it. If we have a road block we'll have to use it." I said. Dani nodded and sat back down.

"You know your way out of town?" He asked watching his side mirror carefully.

"Yes I have the place memorized so when…" Suddenly something large and heavy fell from above and onto the windshield. The window shattered, and I swerved. I covered my eyes with my arm, while still trying to drive. Dani stood up in the cab and kicked the shattered window out, along with the dead infected off the hood. I looked up at the roofs.

"What they're jumping now?" I hissed. "Give us a break!" Dani pulled the rifle around and looked through the scope.

"Left!" He yelled.

"What GO left or they are no the left?" i screamed back at him.

"Turn turn! Turn left!" He yelled. I swerved left, dodging an electric company truck. I heard a thump on Dani's side outside on the pavement.

"Right!" Dani screamed. I swerved right…. "LEFT!" I barley had time to pull out of my right turn before another one dropped on the hood of our truck. The thing clamped onto the hood, and screamed at us. Dani fired and it's body collapsed on the hood with a thunk. Dani used the butt of his gun to slide it off. I took a turn on the street that lead to Les Schwab.

"We have to make a run for the jeep… this truck won't make it through the woods…" I said. Dani leaned out the window, and took a few shots at the nearest infected. I saw the bodies roll to a stop, only distracting a few other infected for a chow down. He shot off a few more, shrinking the gargling crowd running after us.

I saw Les Schwab up ahead… and the garage we had parked the jeep in.

"Hang on!" I yelled, seeing a bit of a problem up ahead. A toyota truck was blocking the road, but instead of hitting the breaks, I pushed harder on the gas. The truck was on its side… apparently it had already been bashed into.

I slammed on the breaks and grabbed the backpack from the seat. I ran for the jeep and yanked at the doors… locked? I looked back at Dani. He had jumped out of the truck and went down on one knee, rifle to his shoulder, facing the crowd of infected coming down the street.

"Dani!" I yelled at him. "Dani what are you doing!" I heard him fire. He cocked it again and fired again. "DANI!" Another shot rang out and suddenly I saw the toyota blossom in fire and flame, exploding with a loud noise that vibrated my chest. The screams of the infected were drown out, and Dani jogged over and unlocked the car.

"Going out with a bang…" He said with a smile. I hesitated, and couldn't help but see a little of my brother in him. Cracking a joke with a smile in a dire situation. I always thought Alex did it to help calm me down. I felt my nerves relax a little and smiled back. We both loaded up and Dani pulled out. We were on the freeway in a few minutes, and passed the congestion of cars that filled the fist five miles. Not a single sign of the infected the whole time. We got to the woods and turned into the tree line, Dani remembering the way back almost perfectly. I was tired… and i could smell the sweat and blood from both of us. I saw the beginning of bags under Dani's eyes, as he watched the woods ahead of us, weaving around trees. I scanned the woods around us looking for any movement. A few ghostly eyes of a fox or coon, but nothing dead.

Everything was still wet from the rain, but Dani seemed to handle the jeep just fine in the mud, fishtailing only once to avoid a boulder and blowing a tire.

I tried to keep calm. Tried to keep awful scenarios from running through my mind. Was Alex ok? Was he safe? Maybe Alex was locked up again? Or maybe Adam was really as rotten as i though him to be and he fed them to the infected.

"You think… you think the others are ok?" I asked. "We've been gone longer then we planned…"

"I'm sure they're fine." Dani said, "I'm not about to underestimate your brother and I know the guys can handle themselves."

"This Adam guy… will he hurt them?"

"I don't know. If they cause trouble he'll retaliate just like anyone else would…"

"But…" I pushed. Dani glance uneasily at me.

"I'm gonna have a serious talk with Les Schwab when we get home. The steering is loose and the brakes are shy…" Dani said. My chest tightened.


	19. Family

I asked Dani if I should drive. He said the steering was easier in the jeep so he was fine. I glanced at his arm laying still across his rifle in his lap. What we had fixed back at the storage was quick and only temporary. He would have to get stitches, something I had not learned how to do nor knew if I could stomach sticking a needle through someone's flesh. Dani took the road and recognized where we had come onto it, the tire tracks still in the mud. We'd have to erase those tracks eventually, i thought. If we make it out of this, I added.

I must of dozed off, because when i looked up after feeling Dani pull to a slow stop, I could see patches of the stone walls of the castle through the trees past the valley. The sun was high over head by now, taken us almost half a day to get back.

He had stopped just shy of the tree-line, avoiding the open valley and attention. Both he and I scanned the trees around us looking for movement. We both knew the city was the worst of it, but the memories of their screams, and the sight of their rotting flesh was still fresh enough on our minds to keep us just as cautious as we had been in the city. I knew it would take a week at least for me to get back into the normal routine, and stop checking around every corner, pause at every door, or every few steps. I guessed it would be the same for Dani.

We saw nothing.

Dani looked over at me, my arms wrapped tightly around the black bag that held our salvation. He looked at my eyes, still a little red, but the dark circles had been reduced to sleep deprivation. Color had fully returned to my face after the long trip and apparent nap. His eyes wondered to my chest, watching me breath steady. From the side of my eye i could see him looking at me, as if waiting for me to say or do something. I kept my eyes on the trees around us.

"we can't leave the Jeep out here." i said. Dani nodded, finally leaning back in his seat.

"Can we hide it?" he asked.

"The mill foundation." Dani said, "where i was bitten. you remember?"

"Will the jeep fit through the doors?"

"Let's hope." I said. Dani started the car up, and I cursed the engine for being so loud. Dani drove behind the tree line as far as we could and then stopped once the wall of the encampment was in sight. From where they sat, they could see the heavy wooden doors were closed.

"Someone's inside." I said, "What now?" I licked my lips. I put the bag down by my feet and pulled the gun our cocking it. Dani gave me a nod, and quietly opened his door. I did the same.

We inched towards the encampment listening. We heard voices on the other side of the wall. More then one. Dani hissed at me and i looked oer at him. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and pulled a knife from his boot tossing it at my feet before drawing a second from his belt. I bit reluctantly, i took it up and put the gun away. I didn't know if i had the energy to do this by hand. But quieter was better. Just as we approached the wall, the door creaked. Dani and I bolted for either side pressing our backs to the wall. A figure stepped out of the door, and i recognized the jacket as one of the prison guards I had threated with a knife in exchange for the keys to the cells. I slammed my fist forward, my knife going for his shoulder. But i was to slow. The boy blocked it, and rerouted my hand into the wall, smashing my fingers, the knife clattering from my grip. I yelped and Dani full on tackled the boy to the ground. He locked the boys arms to his body with his legs, one arm around his neck from behind the other holding the knife going for his chest. I saw the boys horrified face.

I jumped, and grabbed Dani's hand.

"It's Tags!" I hissed, "Stop!" I felt the muscles loosen slightly and Dani focused in on the face.

"Son of a bitch!" Tags hissed, "I can't breath!" Dani finally let Tags go.

"Hey!" A second voice tumbled out of the doors and both Dani and I snapped our guns forward. Dub through up his hands, "heeey..." he siad, "Oh hey!" when he recognized us. Dani and I lowered our weapons.

"Guys! It's Dani and Vera!" he called back through the doors.

I helped Dani to his feet as everyone piled out through the doors.

"Vee?" The low voice that met my ears made my eyes water instantly. I turned and found Alex standing in the doorway, a nasty gash above his eye and a fresh scar on his neck.

"Alex." I breathed. We ran to greet each other and his arms enveloped me in a hug.

"I thought i lost you..." he said, 'I was so worried."

"I was too." I said, "I'm sorry we took so long. It didn't go as planned..."

"It's alright. Come on, we have food and water inside. You look tired." he siad.

"i got the stuff." i said pulling away from him, "I got everything." Alex's smiled at me, but his eyes said something different.

"Good." he said, "Where's the jeep?"

"A few yards back that way..." Dani said pointing with his rifle. "I'll go..."

"I got it..." Flint said, "I'll bring it over. You look like hell man."

"I feel worse." Dani said. he lifted his sleeve and revealed the bloody mess.

"Geeze. Come inside. we'll get that fixed up."

Inside looked more like a refuge center. There were small piles of boxes everywhere, some labled and some not. I saw a few rifles leaning against a rack at the far end, and hoped that wasn't all the weapons they had. There was a small fire at the center of makeshift beds, which is where Alex lead me. I sat down by the fire and Dani sat across from me. Tags and Dub helped Flint fit the jeep through the doors and they closed it tight, setting the large wooden plank across the doors to lock it. Tags and Dub began to empty the jeep of what supplies they found and put it in teh corresponding piles around the encampment. Flint came over to the fire with a black back with a red cross on it. He unzipped it.

"First... those jackets come off." Alex said, 'We'll burn them. they stick to high heaven and their soaked."

Dani and I shredded out jackets and we gave them to Tags who took them and a bottle of gasoline and left out hte doors.

"Vee..." Alex siad, "We have a change of clothes for you..." I glanced down at my bloodied dirty shirt and jeans, and then nodded.

Alex pinned one corner of a dark blanket up on the wall and held the other end up high, giving me enough privacy to change. The clothes i had on now, were dry, clean and warm. My skin felt dirty agansit them and a hot shower crossed my mind.

"I call dibs on showers..." I muttered. I heard Alex chuckled from the other side of the blanket.

When I was done Alex let the blanket fall and gave me a new jacket. Alex tossed my clothes into a pile dumped some gasoline on them and set it a flame. I sat back down at the fire.

Dani had taken his shirt off to let Flint work on his shoulder. I tired not to let my gaze linger. He was covered in bruises and scratches both old and new, and my mind flashed back to when i had passed out in the elevator. He had taken care of me then... and probably suffered the bruises for it.

"So... tell us what happened." Alex said sitting next to me. He wrapped an arm around me and squeezed, "Tell us everything."

Dani was the one that told the story, only pausing a few times and looking at me as if he was expecting me to fill in. I starred at the fire. the story turned mute as i was lost in my own thoughts. One fight was over. But was still had two more to go. The leeches... and the infected. Could we possibly win both? Did we stand a chance against our own fortified castle when already we were beaten and bruised? They already outnumbered us... and that wasn't counting the infected, or how well supplied either of them were. We barely made it back, and it looked like the situation here hadn't improved much at all. After Dani's story. Alex told theirs.

They had raided a few of the storage rooms and stole everything that they had here. They almost lost Tags over the wall when one of the guards attempted to throw him over. Alex decided who's life would be lost, saved Tags, while the guard tumbled over the edge. Alex had gotten cornered, and that's how he got the scars. he explained to me spesifically that these guys knew stances and hits that he didn't recognize. they fought in a way that he and I hadn't been taught in. That's why Alex got the scars. I listened caraefully as he told me that Flint, Tags and Dub all rushed in, and saved him. I looked at the boys... they had saved my brothers life. It seemed every run they did, they just barley made it out without casualties. I didn't want to say anything, but the hurtful, hopeless truth seemed to be sinking it's teeth into my chest: this was a lost cause. I sank deeper into Alex's arms. There was no way we were winning this fight.

I opened my eyes again as Tags and the other boys joined us. I realized Dani had been starring at me. He smiled at me, and then took the water Flint offered him.

"Your backpack is behind you." Dub said and Alex and I a water.

"So how did you get out of town?" Tags asked.

Dani chuckled.

"Ah..." he paused.

"Operation two by two." I said. They all looked at me.

"Are you kidding me?" tags said, "Seriously?"

"Ya." Dani said, with a cocky smile.

"The paint ball strategy he made up?" Flint said.

"Ya... why?"i asked.

"Cause it never worked." Dub said, "The last time I did operation two by two I got shot in the..."

"Hey... lady is present." Dani interrupted.

"Right. I got shot in the fruit."

'The fruit?" Alex laughed and the others chuckled.

"Operation two by town never worked?" I asked.

"Not once" Tags said. i looked at Dani who shrugged.

"There's always a first." he said. I looked at him, while the boys laughed. He rubbed his neck with his free arm, with an embarrassed smile. Alex gave me a squeeze and i sank into his jacket.

I suddenly didn't care if it was possible. I didn't care if we won or not. We would leave. Leave the castle and start over if we had too. But i wasn't loosing Alex... or Dani. Or any of them. I lost my family once and i would not loose it again.


End file.
